version 23 as of 25 Oct 2009: 141 reports or records of 153 birds; 198 citations
Background. In 2008, a Dutch researcher queried the AOU Check-List committee regarding whether a database existed for North American/North Atlantic albatross sightings. The committee Chair happened to ask me if I knew of such a database. I was not aware of any active database and to my knowledge no albatross sighting information had been compiled or updated in at least seven years since several related articles were published in the late 1990s and early 2000s. About a year ago I had a recent need for this same information, so this request motivated me to send out a "quick" data call request to records committee contacts along the North American eastern seaboard and Gulf coast for recent albatross reports and records information. My intention was to "quickly" pull together all reports and records into a data structure. One thing led to another and, being an anal-retentive computer-type person (!), I kept probing, linking, and resolving discrepancies regarding the albatross sighting references I obtained. As I delved deeper into this task, I decided to capture all related historical details and to baseline this information for future reference.
Scope. I decided to make this a comprehensive data collection effort and pull together and summarize all published reports, records, and even anecdotal sightings. Mlodinow 1999 served as my baseline and to this I planned to add the information I received from records committee points-of-contact. Geographically, I limited this effort to eastern Canada, the eastern seaboard and Gulf coasts of the United States, and western North Atlantic islands. I included all albatross taxa, even the two historical Wandering Albatross reports from Florida. No independent detailed ornithological content analysis of the data has been undertaken at this point; record and report validity is based upon the information published, the existence of photographs, and for some later records, records committee decisions.
Data Entries. I compiled the data in an Excel workbook since filtering and sorting is more easily facilitated. The data entries are in chronological order and encompass all associated published references that I could locate. In cases where sighting reports were not accepted by state records committee, I show the submitted taxon in a red-strikeout font. I have also indicate where records committees accepted records as "albatross, sp." rather than a specific taxon.
Data Files. My most recent data compilation version is provided in the files below. Two files are provided below. [You may want to use the "download" link associated with each document frame to download the files directly to your own computer, rather than use blog's the iPaper/Scribd document capabilities.]
Summary Data File. The MS Excel summary file provides top-level statistical summaries and an abridged version of the complied western North Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean albatross sighting data, along with other supporting information. In the Summary Data spreadsheet file there are six worksheets (i.e., tabs) including a "Summary Data" tab that presents data counts by taxon by state/province, year, and month of the year. A "Quick Look" tab summarizes the basic information for each of the data entries. The "Negative Reports" tab indicates the states and provinces who indicated no albatross reports or records exist. The "Literature Cited" tab lists all published references consulted. An "Abbreviations" tab provides specialized abbreviations. The "Points-of-Contact" tab indicates contributors by state/province. Each worksheet is formatted for printing; worksheets can be printed individually or all together by clicking on "print entire workbook." Note that you can filter the summary data by State/Province/Territory/Island by clicking on the small pull-down triangle located in that column's header of the spreadsheet.
Detailed Data File. The MS Word document provides details for each sighting report and record. The detailed MS Word document provides published report extracts, status, and annotations for each of the report entries (some encompassing multiple birds). In the detailed document I have included extracts of relevant reference quotes. I edited these quotes (using brackets) to focus on the sighting in question; however, in some cases, multiple references could not easily be separated and in those cases I used a bold font to highlight the relevant portions of a quote. I also included editorial comments in brackets.
Referenced Literature. I have physically acquired (thanks to the help to many of you) all of the references identified, except for a few obscure ones. I found a great deal of information on the web, especially via SORA and Google Books, including various record committee reports and databases, as well as many journal and book references. The few missing references are highlighted in red. If anyone has access to any of these references, I would appreciate a copy or scan of relevant albatross quotes for my files.
Personal Communications. I included some personal communications comments from contributors. Please let me know if you think I did not capture your comments properly or if you do not wish to have your comments included in the final version. Several contributors provided views and opinions concerning sight record observer reputations; however, I generally did not include those comments in my compilation.
Feedback/Comments/Additions. I would appreciate any comments, corrections, or additional inputs. I highlighted in red font items where I am not sure of a fact or where I suspect data is missing. If contributors could especially look over the data associated with their home states, I would appreciate it. Any additional inputs (references, records committee accession numbers, specimen numbers, location specifics, other facts or comments, etc.) are also welcome.
Acknowledgements. Many thanks to all who contributed data and references to this project. I sincerely appreciate your efforts. Many of you provided specific answers to my numerous questions and tracked down and provided me with reference documents. In addition to the direct data contributors, I would also like to extend special thanks for reference document assistance to Lynda Garrett at the PWRC Library, and also to Paul O'Brien (MD/DCRC Chair), Nick Pulcinella (DOS), Marcia Watson (MD/DCRC member), and Shaibal Mitra (NY/RI). Also, thanks to all of the other key contributors including David Seeler, Denis Lepage, Norman David, Bruce Mactavish, Paul Linegar, Blake Maybank, David Christie, David Seeler, Roger Etcheberry, Bill Sheehan, Rob Woodward, Terry Bronson, Rebecca Suomala, Majorie Rines, Jeremiah Trimble, Doug Wilson, Christopher Raithel, Greg Hanisek, Angus Wilson, Jeanne Skelly, Laurie Larson, Jennifer Hanson, Bill Boyle, Frank Rohrbacher, Bruce Peterjohn, Susan Heath, Amy Gilmer, Harry LeGrand, John Wright, Jim Parnell, Donna Slyce, James F. Flynn Jr., Andy Kratter, Steve McConnell, Greg D. Jackson, Terence Schiefer, Donna Dittmann, Steven W. Cardiff, Mark Lockwood, Tony White, and Andrew Dobson.
Thanks!
Phil
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Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland 21035 USA
301-261-0184
mailto:PDavis@ix.netcom.comMD/DCRC Web site:
http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
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Summary Data and Supporting Information (MS Excel):
[You can use the DOWNLOAD link UNDERNEATH the document frame to download the file to your computer.]
Detailed Data (MS Word):
[You can use the DOWNLOAD link UNDERNEATH the document frame to download the file to your computer.]
