To follow up on the "immature vs. juvenile" portion of John's post about reporting age and sex information in eBird, it's important to note that juvenile and immature can have different definitions in the birding world. So which definition should we use for submitting checklists in eBird? Whenever a question arises about eBird, the place to turn for answers is the "About eBird" portion of the ebird website. Alternatively you can google a few well chosen keywords along with "ebird" and see if you can't find an answer that way too. However you find the information, here's what the eBird website has to say about reporting birds as Juvenile vs. Immature (Source: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about/faq#section-30): Q: What is the difference between a 'juvenile' and an 'immature'? A: When in doubt use 'Immature' for any bird that is not an adult. 'Juvenile' is more specific, describing a bird still in its juvenile plumage. This plumage is held only briefly for many songbirds (just a few weeks after leaving the nest) or up to a year for some larger birds like hawks. Once a bird has molted out of this plumage it is no longer a juvenile. If you can't determine this, but know that the bird isn't an adult, just use 'Immature'. Remember, it's almost always a good idea to leave extra details and physical descriptions of birds in the "Comments" box for the species in question, especially when you'd like to specify, for example, that a gull is a 3rd year in basic plumage but are only given the option of "Immature." Just click the "Add Details" button that appears next to the species name, then include those additional, more specific details, and/or descriptions supporting those determinations, in the comments box. Good birding, Paul Hurtado ______________________________________________________________________ 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]