Date: 8/31/26 6:59 pm From: John Harris via groups.io <jhh.birder...> Subject: Re: [SFBirds] Swinhoe
My understanding is that it was a centralized decision on the part of Ebird
staff, but that county reviewers can modify at their discretion.
A similar situation exists with Scaly-breasted Munia. The last time I
looked ebird was treating it as naturalized up to about the latitude of
Sacramento, and as an escapee north of there.
Where I currently live in Stanislaus County, Munia's are seen annually, but
aren't widespread. Even though Ebird treats it as a naturalized species
here, the number of records remains small, so it's not clear to us locally
that the species is established. We are still awaiting our first Swinhoe's
White-Eyes.
John Harris
Oakdale
On Mon, Aug 31, 2026 at 6:09 PM Bruce Mast via groups.io <cathrasher4=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> Who exactly is "eBird" in this context? Are these decisions left to the
> discretion of county reviewers or is this a more centralized decision
> process emanating from Cornell or thereabouts?
>
> Bruce Mast
> Oakland
>
> On Mon, Aug 31, 2026 at 5:59 PM Adam Winer via groups.io <awiner=
> <gmail.com...> wrote:
>
>> I hate that I know this stuff, but the ABA rules are (highlight added by
>> me):
>>
>> "an individual of an introduced species may be counted only *when part
>> of, or straying from*, a population that meets the first seven criteria
>> of the ABA Checklist Committee’s Criteria for Determining Establishment
>> of Exotics
>> <https://www.aba.org/criteria-for-determining-establishment-of-exotics/>" >>
>> The Swinhoe's White-eye population in Southern California meets this
>> criterion. The impossible question to answer is whether a bird seen in San
>> Francisco is "straying from" the Southern California population, or is it
>> an independent escaped bird? If you think it isn't a stray from southern
>> CA, how close do you have to be to Santa Barbara (the seeming northern end
>> of its range) to be countable? eBird treats Morro Bay records as countable,
>> San Jose (and further north) as not. I suspect this was not an
>> evidence-based decision.
>>
>> Deferring to eBird is reasonable, making up your own mind is allowed.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 31, 2026 at 5:47 PM David Armstrong via groups.io
>> <darmstrong99...> wrote:
>>
>>> Whether to add it to one's personal list would be a matter of
>>> preference, but as of now it is categorized as "Exotic/Escapee" in eBird at
>>> least as far as SF is concerned, I assume due to the paucity of records.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Monday, August 31, 2026 at 05:33:28 PM PDT, Alvaro Jaramillo via
>>> groups.io <chucao...> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> David
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I am not in the listing game, but one thing you said confused me. If
>>> it is on the official California list, does that not make it countable no
>>> matter where in California it is seen?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> Alvaro
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Alvaro Jaramillo
>>>
>>> <alvaro...>
>>>
>>> www.alvarosadventures.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From:* <SFBirds...> <SFBirds...> *On Behalf Of *David
>>> Armstrong via groups.io
>>> *Sent:* Monday, August 31, 2026 8:23 PM
>>> *To:* SF Birds <sfbirds...>
>>> *Subject:* Re: [SFBirds] Swinhoe
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi Roberta and SF Birders
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Presumably David is referring to Swinhoe's White-eye
>>> <https://ebird.org/species/swiwhe1>, which has established a large
>>> population in Southern California, and has been steadily working its way up
>>> the coast with sightings by Dom and others in SF, as well as in East Bay
>>> locations. It's not considered countable here yet but it is on the official
>>> California list.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The "Calliope Tree" refers to an eBird hotspot
>>> <https://ebird.org/hotspot/L2021839>on Lincoln Golf Course and in
>>> particular to a flowering eucalyptus that hosted a Calliope Hummingbird a
>>> couple of falls back (and is a magnet for birds in general). You can access
>>> this area by parking along Clement Street near the corner of 40th Ave.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hope this helps
>>>
>>> David Armstrong
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Monday, August 31, 2026 at 05:15:12 PM PDT, Roberta Guise <
>>> <roberta...> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> This assumes a lot of institutional knowledge and accrued arcana. Alas,
>>> some of us are not quite there yet. And perhaps I missed a previous email
>>> about this..
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> What’s Swinhoe?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Where’s the Calliope tree?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Warmly,
>>> Roberta
>>>
>>> Roberta Guise | Reputation cultivator (she/her)
>>> c: 415-420-6276 <(415)%20420-6276>
>>>
>>> https://www.guisemarketing.com/ >>>
>>> Guise Consulting + Marketing
>>>
>>> Where leading authorities are made
>>>
>>> Author of the forthcoming book, “The Reputation Formula”
>>>
>>>
>>> ***********************************************
>>> Former National Board Director, Institute of Management
>>> Consultants USA (IMC USA)
>>>
>>> Past President,
>>>
>>> IMC USA NorCal Chapter
>>>
>>> linkedin.com/in/robertaguise
>>> @robertaguise
>>>
>>> **********************************************
>>>
>>> *From: *<SFBirds...> <SFBirds...> on behalf of David
>>> Webster via groups.io <davisigno...>
>>> *Date: *Monday, August 31, 2026 at 16:34
>>> *To: *SF Birds <SFBirds...>
>>> *Subject: *[SFBirds] Swinhoe
>>>
>>> In the Calliope tree - not banded
>>>
>>>
>
>
