Band Codes and context sensitivity

[John Thomlinson]

I find the context-sensitive species selection, when I use band codes, a bit frustrating. When I enter a bandcode, from time to time a differet species will autofill: GREG, for example, autofills with Great-tailed Grackle not Great Egret, and CATE can give me Cattle Egret not Caspian Tern. The correct birds are down the list, but this means I have to be constantly checking what is populating my sightings. I'm sure the rationale is sound - if Caspian Tern is not on the checklist for a place, then I probably meant Cattle Egret, but if so, shouldn't I type CAEG? For ambiguous names (Cerulean Warbler or Cedar Waxwing, for example) USGS has unique codes for each, so CEWA should give whichever is more likely, but CEDW should always give the Waxwing and CERW always the warbler. Shouldn't it? John

[Adam Winer]

So this is all "working as intended" - Scythebill data entry simply does not support banding codes at all. It's supporting arbitrary abbreviations, on the grounds that most users simply can't remember whether BWWA is Blue-winged Warbler or Black-and-white Warbler. (I can, but only because I've made the mistake publicy - the latter is a regular find in California, the former a once-a-decade rarity.)

Also, banding codes are rather US-centric, and the app is intentionally not US-centric.

Generally speaking, with even a modicum of use, Scythebill should also shift its usage to what is actually seen at a location - so if you're seeing Caspian Terns and not Cattle Egrets, CATE will shift to Caspian Terns on subsequent visits. For example, for me, in California, CATE is Caspian Tern, but in Mexico, CATE is Cattle Egret.

That said, I'm open to adding support for banding codes - perhaps just when entered in all-caps? - but I don't see this as high-priority enough to add in the near future.

[John Thomlinson]

That all makes perfect sense, thank you.  It explains why the default option changes from time to time, which is good to know.  I guess that because I use band codes I just assume everyone should - not a good assumption.  The option to use strict band codes would be nice, but I agree, not a high priority.  Something for your spare time, ha! Cheers, John