About the Indiana Audubon Society Yearly Birders’ Lists Article
While Indiana Audubon does not vet annual listing attempts made by its members, it does provide general guidelines for submission to the annual Indiana Birders’ Lists Article that appears in the Indiana Audubon Quarterly each year. Those guidelines were originally printed in the May 2022 IAQ and are as follows:
- Birders submitting year lists should follow ABA Code of Ethics and the ABA Recording Rules and Interpretations.
- Birds should only be included on year lists if they appear on Indiana’s Official Bird Checklist, maintained by the IBRC. Potential first state records should only be included after they have been accepted by the IBRC.
- Review list species should be submitted to the IBRC for review and should only be included on a year list if the species is accepted by the IBRC that particular year.
- Lists should be submitted to the IAS Publications Committee by February 1 of the following year (see link to submission form at the bottom of this page). If any species are still being reviewed by the IBRC by January 31, they can be provisionally included on the list. The list can subsequently be updated if the record is not accepted.
Savannah Bennett ([email protected]) is the editor for the Indiana Birders’ Lists article that appears annually in the Indiana Audubon Quarterly. The deadline to submit your 2023 life and annual lists is February 1.
Frequently Asked Questions
What year list totals can I share via the submission form (linked below)?
The following year list totals may be shared:
- World lists
- North America lists
- ABA Area lists
- Indiana lists
- Indiana county lists
- Property lists
The list totals should be what you saw up to and including December 31, 2023. eBird users can simply go to their “my ebird” page and find all of the categories to report without any additional work or math to calculate your totals. You can find the form below. IAS only needs the number of birds seen and not the actual lists of species. Please note 50 species is the lower threshold to report a list in most categories.
Can I share my property list total?
Yes, you can include property lists. If you include property lists please give a brief description of your property: urban yard, suburban yard, or country yard. Also give an approximate size estimate. An urban or suburban yard might be measured in feet such as 50 by 70 feet and a country yard in acres such as 25 acres.
Is it possible to share information other than final year totals in this article?
To some extent, yes. While we primarily convey quantitative totals for birders’ listing efforts, we encourage Hoosier birders to share interesting information about their birding activities, including but not limited to places you birded, milestone birds you saw, and any alternative list (e.g., zerocarbon, five-mile radius, 100 species each month, and so on). This information can be included in the submission form’s comments section.
What exactly is covered by the ABA Area these days?
The ABA list only includes Canada and the United States. The ABA began including Hawaii in 2017. The North America list covers everything north of the Columbian-Panamanian border. It also includes the West Indies, Mexico and Central America but not Hawaii.
What is countable on the Indiana list?
Indiana lists include all IBRC accepted species on the state checklist. Whooping Crane is now both Indiana and ABA acceptable.
Do I have to be an IAS member to submit my totals for publication?
While membership in the IAS is recommended for people who are involved in the list report, it is not a requirement. People who are not members will still have their lists included. Please consider becoming a member of the Indiana Audubon Society, as we have no affiliation with the National Audubon Society and rely solely on donations.
When will this article be released?
Every year, the article “Birders’ Lists” appears in the May issue of Indiana Audubon Quarterly (IAQ).
Happy Birding!
The Indiana 300 Club
Limpkin photo by Ryan Sanderson