Birding Resources

Ethical Birding and Photography

As a scientifically oriented organization, Kentucky Ornithological Society (KOS) supports ethical behavior in research, as well as in the casual activities of birding and bird photography. We refer birders, photographers and videographers to two different resources for guidelines on ethical behavior.

The American Birding Association (ABA) provides a Code of Birding Ethics (PDF)
The National Audubon Society offers a Guide to Ethical Bird Photography and Videography (PDF)

Ethical behavior is a gift to others. Go birding ethically and have fun!

KOS Flickr Photo Gallery

KOS has a dedicated Flickr gallery where members can post photos and view photos posted by others. When you visit our Flickr page you can join, post your own photos, or just enjoy photos already on the site.

Birdky LISTSERV

The Birdky LISTSERV is a free service for the Kentucky birding community. It was started many years ago and is not provided by KOS, even though the name "Birdky" is similar to our web address.

With the Birdky LISTSERV birders have a way to quickly share news with others in the Kentucky birding community. When an email is sent to Birdky LISTSERV, it is immediately forwarded to everyone who subscribes to the LISTSERV.

To subscribe:

Send an email to birdky-request@freelists.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.

To Unsubscribe:

Send an email to birdky-request@freelists.org with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

To Get Help:

If you have questions or need help using the LISTSERV, contact the administrator at: https://www.freelists.org/contact.html

Helpful Tip:

When you see Birdky LISTSERV posts that you don't like or find objectionable, just delete the posts from your email feed and ignore them. If that doesn't work, then you should use the link above to contact the administrator for help.

Kentucky Bird Seasonal Graphs

Kentucky birders can use these seasonal occurrence graphs for approximately 300 bird species. Produced by KOS member Ronan O'Carra, these graphs provide information on the times of year that those species are likely to be encountered in Kentucky.

Transferring Audio files from Merlin to eBird Checklists

The Cornell Lab's Merlin phone app has a very handy Sound ID feature. Sound ID allows the use of phones to record bird sounds in the field, and the app then attempts to provide IDs of the audible birds based on sound characteristics.

Merlin's Sound ID has a nice secondary benefit as well. The audio recordings stored in Merlin can be transferred to eBird checklists, which allows users to provide better documentation for their sightings. Your recording is also added to Cornell's library of audio files to the benefit their citizen science projects.

KOS provides the following documents for users of iPhones and Android phones with instructions on how to accomplish this:

Links to Other Resources

The list below provides links to websites that are relevant to birding generally, and also to websites that are specifically relevant to birding in Kentucky.

Websites of Interest for Kentucky Birding

National Birding Organizations

Also of Interest to Birders

eBird – a project of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology – a leading resource for birders.
BirdLife International

BIRDKY LISTSERV Rules

By using Birdky LISTSERV, you agree to follow the rules found in our Conditions of Use below. Please read this entire page to be sure you agree. If not, please unsubscribe and discontinue using Birdky LISTSERV.

Philosophy of Birdky LISTSERV

The Kentucky Ornithological Society (KOS) provides Birdky LISTSERV as a service to the Kentucky birding community. It is a forum for sharing information quickly and efficiently. Discussions about wild birds, birding, and related conservation efforts are invited. These exchanges should be informative, entertaining, and respectful. Members are encouraged to feel a sense of community in which they can post to the Birdky LISTSERV without fear of humiliation or personal attacks.

These guidelines will help you get started. The Conditions of Use, found below the Guidelines, are the rules by which Birdky LISTSERV will be managed. KOS prefers to guide BIRDKY with a light touch and a common-sense approach that permits free and open discussion. The rules will be enforced if the need arises.

Guidelines

To Subscribe

Send email to: birdky-request@freelists.org with "subscribe" in the subject line.

To Unsubscribe

Send email to: birdky-request@freelists.org with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

How To Post

These are the basic steps and rules for creating a Birdky Post.

Send an email message to birdky@freelists.org
Include a descriptive subject line with your email. Do not leave the subject line blank.
In the body of the message, use plain text only. You may also include links to appropriate content, such as an ebird report or an article of interest.
Do not include photos, images, logos, attached documents or files. Do not paste content you have copied from webpages, articles or other emails into a birdky post. Do not include HTML code, or other code snippets.
At the bottom of the the message, include your actual name and location.
Be respectful in posts, discussions, and responses at all times.
If you have concerns about the content of a post or discussion, if you feel harrased, or if you have a dispute with someone over a Birdky LISTSERV post, DO NOT post to the Birdky LISTSERV about your concerns or engage in a public dispute. Instead write to the LISTSERV manager, Gary Ritchison at gary.ritchison@retiree.eku.edu to request help with the issue.

Conventions

There are some traditional and useful prefixes that may be used with the subject line. The format for this is "PRE: Text of subject," where PRE is replaced by one of the prefixes below. They are a shorthand way to catch the attention of your intended audience.

RPT: - Denotes a Report. For example, "RPT: Special Sighting"
RFI: - Request for Information.
RBA: - Rare Bird Alert.

Conditions of Use

The following rules are the KOS conditions for use of Birdky LISTSERV. By subscribing to and using the Birdky LISTSERV, you agree that you have read these rules and that you will follow these rules.

Failure to follow the rules for Birdky LISTSERV can result in loss of your right to use the service.

If you break the rules, you may receive a warning that you are out of compliance, be temporarily suspended from using the service, or banned entirely.

Required Elements for Posts

Posts to Birdky LISTSERV must contain:

A descriptive subject line. Do Not leave the subject line blank.
A message body that contains plain text.
Your real name.
Your real location. This can be a county, city or town name. The location can be where you are reporting from or where you live.

Optional Elements for Posts

Posts to Birdky LISTSERV may also contain:

Links (URLs) to websites or other online content you are referrencing in your post.
Email addresses for yourself or someone you are referrencing in your post.
A Title. In addition to the subject line, you may add a title for your post, at the top of your message body.

Acceptable Content and Behavior

All posts and replies to Birdky LISTSERV must be respectful.

Topics - News about wild birds, birding, and bird-related conservation efforts are all examples of acceptable content.
Topics - Posts should be about acceptable Kentucky-related topics. Posts about other states, the nation or the world are acceptable, if they have some connection to Kentucky.
Discussion - Responses to posts about the original topic, which expand the discussion, or add to it, are encouraged.
Referring Links - When the topic is about another website or other online content, links to that content may be included.
Email Addresses - When the topic mentions contacting someone, email addresses may be included along with other contact information.
Your Email Address - Your email address may be included in the body of the message. For example you could include your email address in the signature block.

Uncceptable Content and Behavior

Posts and replies to Birdky LISTSERV may not be disrespectful.

Inappropriate Topics - Any topic that is not covered by our Acceptable Content list above should be avoided. Examples of unacceptable topics include:
- Pet birds, caged birds and domestic birds
- Ethics of hunting or falconry
- Feral Cats
Off-topic Responses - Replies that change the topic of the original post are not allowed.
Advertising - KOS is a non-profit organization that does not promote any product or service and advertising is not allowed.
Note: discussions about products or services are not considered advertising.
Angry Discussion - Disagreements, angry responses and any aggressive content is not allowed.
Inappropriate or Offensive Content - KOS promotes a family-friendly atmosphere on Birdky LISTSERV. Any content, text, statement or image that is considered to be inappropriate or offensive by KOS is not allowed.
Attachments - Photos, images, documents and other files should not be attached to your posts.
Cut and Paste - While small blocks of text my be pasted into your post for reference, pasting articles, web pages or other online content into your post is not allowed. Doing so can result in copyright infringement issues for you and for KOS.

Enforcement of KOS Birdky LISTSERV Rules

Common sense and a light touch will always be the starting point when a breach of the rules occurs. Most breaches are accidental or unintentional and will not result in any action. If a breach becomes serious or persistent enough to warrant action, KOS and the LISTSERV manager will take steps to resolve the issue.

Possible enforcement actions include warnings, temporary suspension of access to the LISTSERV, or a permanent ban of the offender from using the service. Any enforcement will be done privately with no public notice or comment from KOS.

If a potential copyright infringement issue occurs, KOS will take steps to remove the offending content.