BRC General Information

BRITISH COLUMBIA FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS

BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE

Joachim Bertrands – Chairperson (Victoria)

Dianne Cooper (Cranbrook) Jeremy Gatten (Saanichton)
Ian Cruickshank (Victoria)
Liron Gertsman (Vancouver)
Michael Force (Kelowna) Mark Phinney (Dawson Creek)

General Operating Principles

The BRC welcomes Rare Bird Reports from all observers. Membership in BCFO is not a requirement for submissions to the committee. The Bird Records Committee is operated as a service to all British Columbia birders, ornithologists, and members of the public.

Full terms of reference are being developed by the committee as it works to clear the large backlog of reviews.

The Bird Records Committee will:

  • Use a consensus model for making decisions.
  • Be fully transparent and promptly make decisions public.
  • Judge submissions as ‘accepted’ or ‘not accepted’.
  • Publish reasons for decisions which may be a summary of comments by committee members, without attribution.
  • Give reasons for decisions that are sufficiently clear to enable re-submission of “not accepted” records, if deficiencies are addressed.
  • Give priority to records that, if accepted, would be new to the Provincial List.
  • Review the earliest records of potential Provincial firsts where possible. However, greater priority will be given to submissions with adequate and easily obtained documentation.

The Committee has adopted the following guidelines:

  • Provincial firsts require physical proof (e.g., photos, videos, specimen). Excellent field-notes will suffice for subsequent records if physical proof is lacking.
  • Provincial firsts by single-observers are acceptable where verifiable, physical proof was obtained.
  • Where “accepted” records meet the above criteria, the species will be added to the Provincial List.
  • Species that have received no objections to identification or provenance, but which do not otherwise meet the criteria for acceptance to the Provincial List, will be placed on the provisional list. Species on the provisional list may be re-evaluated should the species be added subsequently to the Provincial list, or when additional information is acquired.
  • Outside expertise may be sought at the committee’s discretion. Such expertise is to inform the committee’s work, but holds no voting power in its own right.

PUBLICATIONS

An annual report of the committee will be published in British Columbia Birds

A summary of decisions for each round of reviews highlighting the most recently “accepted” records will be published promptly on the BCFO website and/or in BC Birding.

REVIEW LIST

The BC Provincial Review List can be found here, or by navigating via the BRC Public tab above.

SUBMISSIONS

Observers are encouraged to submit records of any potentially new species for the Province and of those found on the review list to Chair BCFO BRC, chair of the Bird Records Committee using the BCFO Rare Bird Report form below.

COPYRIGHT

Unless copyright restrictions are indicated, the material in these reports may be reproduced in another publication provided that the BCFO Bird Records Committee is credited fully.

Suggested citation example: British Columbia Field Ornithologists, Bird Records Committee. BRC Round 28 Feb – Mar 2020, Accepted Records. https://bcfo.ca/brc-round-28-feb-mar-2020-accepted-records/ .

RARE BIRD REPORT FORM

bcfo-brc-rare-bird-report-form

Electronic submissions are preferred, and should be sent to:

Chair BCFO BRC, by email to:   bcbrc DOT chair AT gmail DOT.com

Mailed documentation should be sent to:

BCFO Bird Records Committee Chair
British Columbia Field Ornithologists


PO Box 96135
4590 Fraser St
Vancouver, BC
V5V 4G0

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