Pennsylvania Rare Bird Alert |
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Introducing PARBA, the new Pennsylvania Rare Bird Alert using Cell Phone SMS/Text messaging. Instead of a phone chain that occasionally breaks down and in some cases, takes considerable time to transmit information, PARBA uses simultaneous delivery of text messages. If a birder finds a rare bird in PA, he can send a text message from a cell phone to PARBA, and that message is distributed to all PARBA subscribers immediately (Ie. you will receive a text message on your phone). Furthermore, there is no cost for the service beyond standard text messaging rates (the price you already pay for text messages from your cellular provider). Unless birders magically start finding uber-rarities at a higher than normal pace, PARBA will likely be used sporadically and so won’t clog up your cell phone’s inbox. This system is currently being used effectively in the Cape May, NJ and Finger Lakes, NY birding communities – thanks to Bob Fogg for the idea. How do I sign up for PARBA?
PARBA uses internet software called TextMarks. To sign up for the service, using your computer’s internet browser, navigate to: http://www.TextMarks.com/PARBA Then enter your cell phone number (including area code) into the appropriate box, accept the “terms of service,” and click subscribe. Easy! Just send the text message "stop" to 41411. How do I send a message to PARBA? All messages sent or received through PARBA go through the number 41411. Once you are subscribed to PARBA through TextMarks, to send a message from your cell phone, type 41411 as the “to” or “destination” address. When you type the actual message, the first word always has to be PARBA (to route the message to the correct list within the TextMarks system). Then type in the full species name (no 4-letter abbreviations please), location, and county (county is very important). Further details don’t need to be sent on PARBA, but should be communicated through a phone message or a post on the state listserve, (PAbirds). PARBA messages should be short but contain the general information. A valid PARBA message that you type to broadcast a rarity might look like this:
It would be a good idea to add in a brief mention of confirmation or documentation if the bird is super rare – for example, you could add in “photographed extensively” or “confirmed by Nick Pulcinella in person”. Second hand messages are fine for distribution on PARBA, but only if they include the name of the observer (fide Cameron Rutt). Remember, all messages get sent to “41411” and must start with the word “PARBA.” (If you don't start the message with PARBA, you will get a text message back saying the first word was not recognized by the system.) Which birds should be reported to PARBA? Birds reportable to PARBA should simply include any wild bird species that is very rare to the state. The purpose of PARBA is to alert birders so that anyone interested in seeing a rare bird can obtain the information in a timely fashion. Since it is unlikely that most observers have a list of PA bird records memorized, good judgment is requested. For instance, it is difficult to request that PARBA be restricted to birds recorded less than 10 times in the state. For one thing, we sure wouldn’t want a Boreal Chickadee to go unreported – BOCH has been recorded more than 10 times in the state, but not in a good long while. (Note to potential subscribers – please find a Boreal Chickadee and let PARBA know!) Examples of good/bad decisions to use PARBA: Good: “I just saw a Western Kingbird on a phone wire in Lycoming County. Pretty good bird, and I read in Pennsylvania Birds magazine that records have decreased in recent years. I had better send a message to PARBA!” “I just got a second hand report from a reliable birder of a Roseate Spoonbill on the Conejohela Flats, Lancaster County. Must. Send. Note. To. PARBA.” (You get bonus points for a spoonbill, by the way!)
Bad: |
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| “A Sharp-shinned Hawk just killed a titmouse on my sunflower feeder. What should I do?” | |
- PARBA is for rare birds, not bird behavior. Send this one to Pabirds listserve.
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| “Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow/ Olive-sided Flycatcher/ Connecticut Warbler/ Iceland Gull at XXXX (any location in PA).” | |
| - These are birds that are of annual occurrence in the state in numbers and are not appropriate for distribution on PARBA. If every one of these uncommon migrants was reported, the volume of messages would approach the crushing load of the PABirds listserve. We don’t want that! | |
Can I create a local Rare Bird Alert? Yes. Go to http://lite.textmarks.com/ and follow the instructions for setting up your own text alert group. You could set one up for your county or region. This could be used for reporting locally rare birds that may not be of interest to most birders from the other end of the state. Just be sure to let the listserve know, so those birders around the state who participate in County listing can join. We will then add your local RBA to this web page.
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