Nature Done Wright

On Monday I wrote:

I must be living under a rock, but I never heard of a Code 5 Rare Bird Alert.

Do you know what it is? What about a Code 6?

("Rare Bird Alert" is also a great song by Steve Martin.)

Julie McCall answered:

They are American Birding Association (ABA) codes:

Code 5 is five or fewer records in the ABA area. (or fewer than 3 records in the past 30 years).

Code 6 is like a 404 error. Can't be found. Possibly/actually extinct, extirpated from the area, or all of the birds of that species are in captivity.

So if someone found a northern kiwi at the Celery Farm and it was confirmed to have gotten there under its own power, that would be a code 5. a dodo would be a code 6.

Thanks, Julie!

Here's a blog post from Texas on a Code 5 hat trick!

https://birdtalesblog.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/code-5-hat-trick/