I usually don't jump in on these conversations, but using ebird website really helps in this respect. You put in your observations, and then ebird sends you an email within minutes. The birds are in taxonomical order and spelled and capitalized correctly. So, then, I just forward the ebird email to the Ohio birdlist. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Royse" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 8:46 PM Subject: [Ohio-birds] four-letter codes Those 4 letter codes are very annoying. They have a purpose for banders, but in written in reports they're like a secret code that I feel like I have to decipher. I certainly have no qualms about people abbreviating bird names as long as it is apparent what you're talking about with a quick glance. My 2 cents. Bob Royse Robert Royse [log in to unmask] www.roysephotos.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4488 (20091007) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]