Night Parrot Debate

I have been asked by several people to contribute to the latest exchange on this subject and do so reluctantly. David Adams has a point when he speculates that the controversy surrounding the Night Parrot discovery can be explained by the fact that it has been handled in a “novel manner”. I believe Nikolas Haass is correct when he suggests it is reasonable for further evidence to be produced publicly to consolidate the discovery. A lesson in history. In the mid-1970s I rediscovered the plumiferus race of the Marbled Frogmouth. It was a highly significant finding at the time; the so-called Plumed Frogmouth had not been seen for some decades and its call was unknown. I immediately publicised the whereabouts of the site. With Chris Corben and other colleagues, we recorded the bird’s call; the recordings were distributed widely. Surveys were conducted throughout the bird’s range in south-east Queensland and north-east NSW to determine its status and distribution. I published the finding in a peer-reviewed journal, Emu. The results of surveys were published in another journal, Sunbird. I took the view that the interests of the Plumed Frogmouth were best served by both verifying the record publicly and by gathering and publicising as much information as quickly as possible. It’s called transparency, and without adequate and incontrovertible transparency, controversy is inevitable. This debate is not about attacking or defending any particular individual. It is not primarily about believing or not believing the Night Parrot record; I personally believe it. What this debate should be centred around is the welfare of the Night Parrot. Too many people forget that this endangered species is not the property of any individual, however noteworthy their efforts in the field may be. Greg Roberts =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================