Six Letter Code for Birds
Wouldn't if be nice if you could write down your list of birds quickly and accurately? Or you are birding and forgot your notebook, and only have one small napkin from breakfast and must write very small to save space? Many birders walk with notebooks in their pockets and make some sort of list of birds that they see. Some birders keep only a life list; some keep lists by state or county or place; some keep lists by day or year. The Yellow-rumped Warbler is seen all over North America, and I think that many birders would like a simple system of standard abbreviations for writing this bird and others on their lists.
I have known for quite some time that bird banders use an alpha code to identify the birds in their work but I have not researched this code. The US Fish &Wildlife, Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), developed its own system. Recently, Bird Watcher's Digest (BWD) published an article on this subject by Kenneth M. Burton in its issue of March/April 2007. Burton made reference to work done by Peter Pyle & David DeSanete of the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) and in his article he described the rules for the IBP codes. All three of these systems use 4-letter codes.
I wrote some database code to apply the rules (1st order) from the IBP system to the Common/English names of birds in my own database. I discovered that with just the American Birding Association (ABA) list of birds (957 species) there are over 90 instances where two species have the same code, which is 10%. There is another set of rules (2nd order) in the IBP system for dealing with these duplicates or conflicts, and still, there are some conflicts for which there are more rules (3rd order). So, you have to learn all the rules or memorize the list of over 90 codes. (Table 2 in BWD is incorrect.)
Now, these coding systems only use 4 alpha characters and are used for scientific study where the fewest number of characters is important, because the primary constraint is putting characters on a small leg band. But you and I are birders (and probably listers if you are reading this) and we just need a simple set of rules to make our lists quickly in the field, and where we can decipher our notes days or months later. With more research on the web, I found two 6-letter code systems developed by John Shipman, Zoological Data Processing and by Bruce Bowman, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The simplest rules are by Bowman and I am recommending that code system.
Here are the rules for the Common/English names as found in the ABA official list.
1) One-word names -- use the first six letters or entire word if less than six characters.
e.g. Bananaquit = BANANA, Osprey = OSPREY, Sora = SORA
2) Two-word names -- use the first three letters of each word.
e.g. Elf Owl = ELFOWL, American Crow = AMECRO
3) Three-word names (hyphen creates a new word) -- use the first two letters of each word.
e.g. Little Blue Heron = LIBLHE, Red-eyed Vireo = REEYVI, Florida Scrub-Jay = FLSCJA, Whip-poor-will = WHPOWI
4) Four-word names (hyphen creates a new word) -- use the first letter of the first two words and the first two letters of the last two words. That is 1 - 1 - 2 - 2.
e.g. Northern Saw-whet Owl = NSWHOW, Black-crowned Night-Heron = BCNIHE, Black-and-White Warbler = BAWHWA
In the ABA bird list, with Bowman's rules, there are only 16 species to memorize:
Barn Owl = BARNOW (uses 4 - 2)
Barred Owl = BARROW (uses 4 - 2)
Blackburnian Warbler = BLBUWA (Blackburnian is treated as two words: Black Burnian)
Blackpoll Warbler = BLPOWA (Blackpoll is treated as two words: Black Poll)
Black-throated Gray Warbler = BRGYWA (Gray = GY)
Black-throated Green Warbler = BRGNWA (Green = GN)
Common Redpoll = COREDP (Redpoll is treated as two words: Red Poll using 3 and 1)
Common Redshank = COREDS (Redshank is treated as two words: Red Shank using 3 and 1)
Green-breasted Mango = GNBRMA (Green = GN)
Gray-breasted Martin = GYBRMA (Gray = GY)
Leach's Storm-Petrel = LEACSP (uses 4 - 1 - 1)
Least Storm-Petrel = LEASSP (uses 4 - 1 - 1)
Wilson's Warbler = WILSWA (uses 4 - 2)
Willow Warbler = WILLWA (uses 4 - 2)
Yellow-breasted Bunting = YBREBU (uses 1 - 3 - 2)
Yellow-browed Bunting = YBROBU (uses 1 - 3 - 2)
I also applied these rules to the 47th supplement of the American Ornithologist's Union (AOU) list (2041 species). There are an additional 39 species to memorize with Bowman's rules.
There is a 5th rule used in resolving conflicts. If the conflict occurs between species in the ABA list, then both species get a new code. If the conflict occurs between species in both the ABA list and the AOU list, then the AOU list gets a new code while the ABA species keeps the original code. If the conflict occurs between species only in the AOU list, then both species get a new code. No user needs to remember this rule because it is only used in resolving the conflicts.
Let's be realistic. As birders, we are not required to use alpha codes when we bird, but it will speed up writing our notes and provide consistency in our abbreviations. Therefore, most of us will only use codes for the birds we see frequently. Secondly, when learning the code system, I think that adding a hyphen between the abbreviations for each word will make deciphering very simple. e.g. Black-crowned Night-Heron = B-C-NI-HE, Red-eyed Vireo = RE-EY-VI, Barred Owl = BARR-OW. The hyphen helps me see when a new word begins. These hyphens are optional and should be ignored when entering this data into any computer program, but I think you will be able to interpret your lists months later without error (if you can read your hand writing).
I will never need to learn the AOU list and will probably use only 7 codes from the ABA conflict list. The rules are easy to remember, too, when you state them this way: take the first letters of each word, totaling up to 6 letters for all names with three words or less, and then learn the rule for four-word names (which is 1 letter, 1 letter, 2 letters, 2 letters). There are no five-word or longer names in the ABA list. Lastly, 6-letter codes are easier to read than 4-letter codes.
Bowman's 6-letter code system for the ABA list is documented at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/sixlettercode.html.
I have been looking for a coding system that is consistent and easy to remember. THIS IS IT!
Wouldn't if be nice if you could write down your list of birds quickly and accurately? Or you are birding and forgot your notebook, and only have one small napkin from breakfast and must write very small to save space? Many birders walk with notebooks in their pockets and make some sort of list of birds that they see. Some birders keep only a life list; some keep lists by state or county or place; some keep lists by day or year. The Yellow-rumped Warbler is seen all over North America, and I think that many birders would like a simple system of standard abbreviations for writing this bird and others on their lists.
I have known for quite some time that bird banders use an alpha code to identify the birds in their work but I have not researched this code. The US Fish &Wildlife, Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), developed its own system. Recently, Bird Watcher's Digest (BWD) published an article on this subject by Kenneth M. Burton in its issue of March/April 2007. Burton made reference to work done by Peter Pyle & David DeSanete of the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) and in his article he described the rules for the IBP codes. All three of these systems use 4-letter codes.
I wrote some database code to apply the rules (1st order) from the IBP system to the Common/English names of birds in my own database. I discovered that with just the American Birding Association (ABA) list of birds (957 species) there are over 90 instances where two species have the same code, which is 10%. There is another set of rules (2nd order) in the IBP system for dealing with these duplicates or conflicts, and still, there are some conflicts for which there are more rules (3rd order). So, you have to learn all the rules or memorize the list of over 90 codes. (Table 2 in BWD is incorrect.)
Now, these coding systems only use 4 alpha characters and are used for scientific study where the fewest number of characters is important, because the primary constraint is putting characters on a small leg band. But you and I are birders (and probably listers if you are reading this) and we just need a simple set of rules to make our lists quickly in the field, and where we can decipher our notes days or months later. With more research on the web, I found two 6-letter code systems developed by John Shipman, Zoological Data Processing and by Bruce Bowman, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The simplest rules are by Bowman and I am recommending that code system.
Here are the rules for the Common/English names as found in the ABA official list.
1) One-word names -- use the first six letters or entire word if less than six characters.
e.g. Bananaquit = BANANA, Osprey = OSPREY, Sora = SORA
2) Two-word names -- use the first three letters of each word.
e.g. Elf Owl = ELFOWL, American Crow = AMECRO
3) Three-word names (hyphen creates a new word) -- use the first two letters of each word.
e.g. Little Blue Heron = LIBLHE, Red-eyed Vireo = REEYVI, Florida Scrub-Jay = FLSCJA, Whip-poor-will = WHPOWI
4) Four-word names (hyphen creates a new word) -- use the first letter of the first two words and the first two letters of the last two words. That is 1 - 1 - 2 - 2.
e.g. Northern Saw-whet Owl = NSWHOW, Black-crowned Night-Heron = BCNIHE, Black-and-White Warbler = BAWHWA
In the ABA bird list, with Bowman's rules, there are only 16 species to memorize:
Barn Owl = BARNOW (uses 4 - 2)
Barred Owl = BARROW (uses 4 - 2)
Blackburnian Warbler = BLBUWA (Blackburnian is treated as two words: Black Burnian)
Blackpoll Warbler = BLPOWA (Blackpoll is treated as two words: Black Poll)
Black-throated Gray Warbler = BRGYWA (Gray = GY)
Black-throated Green Warbler = BRGNWA (Green = GN)
Common Redpoll = COREDP (Redpoll is treated as two words: Red Poll using 3 and 1)
Common Redshank = COREDS (Redshank is treated as two words: Red Shank using 3 and 1)
Green-breasted Mango = GNBRMA (Green = GN)
Gray-breasted Martin = GYBRMA (Gray = GY)
Leach's Storm-Petrel = LEACSP (uses 4 - 1 - 1)
Least Storm-Petrel = LEASSP (uses 4 - 1 - 1)
Wilson's Warbler = WILSWA (uses 4 - 2)
Willow Warbler = WILLWA (uses 4 - 2)
Yellow-breasted Bunting = YBREBU (uses 1 - 3 - 2)
Yellow-browed Bunting = YBROBU (uses 1 - 3 - 2)
I also applied these rules to the 47th supplement of the American Ornithologist's Union (AOU) list (2041 species). There are an additional 39 species to memorize with Bowman's rules.
There is a 5th rule used in resolving conflicts. If the conflict occurs between species in the ABA list, then both species get a new code. If the conflict occurs between species in both the ABA list and the AOU list, then the AOU list gets a new code while the ABA species keeps the original code. If the conflict occurs between species only in the AOU list, then both species get a new code. No user needs to remember this rule because it is only used in resolving the conflicts.
Let's be realistic. As birders, we are not required to use alpha codes when we bird, but it will speed up writing our notes and provide consistency in our abbreviations. Therefore, most of us will only use codes for the birds we see frequently. Secondly, when learning the code system, I think that adding a hyphen between the abbreviations for each word will make deciphering very simple. e.g. Black-crowned Night-Heron = B-C-NI-HE, Red-eyed Vireo = RE-EY-VI, Barred Owl = BARR-OW. The hyphen helps me see when a new word begins. These hyphens are optional and should be ignored when entering this data into any computer program, but I think you will be able to interpret your lists months later without error (if you can read your hand writing).
I will never need to learn the AOU list and will probably use only 7 codes from the ABA conflict list. The rules are easy to remember, too, when you state them this way: take the first letters of each word, totaling up to 6 letters for all names with three words or less, and then learn the rule for four-word names (which is 1 letter, 1 letter, 2 letters, 2 letters). There are no five-word or longer names in the ABA list. Lastly, 6-letter codes are easier to read than 4-letter codes.
Bowman's 6-letter code system for the ABA list is documented at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/sixlettercode.html.
I have been looking for a coding system that is consistent and easy to remember. THIS IS IT!
All images © MSCI
2 comments:
Thanks for your thoughts on bird coding system. I would appreciate it if you can link directly to my page on the subject: A system for representing bird taxonomy.
Having experimented with both Shipman and Bowman 6-letter codes, I am not totally satisfied with either. Both systems are great, but I have somewhat different objectives. I find Shipman's code rules to be easier to remember and use. However, I did away with the special codes for colors. Also, I eliminated all conflicting codes throughout the AOU area, not just in the ABA area.
My goals are to have a system that:
1) is easy to learn and remember throughout the AOU area (not just US and Canada) because I bird in Mexico a lot
2) minimizes the chance of data entry errors -- so conflicting codes cannot be "recycled"
My system is described at www.ezbird.com if you are interested.
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