User talk:James919

Yellow-browed sparrow

Hi James: I see you've added yellow-browed sparrow to the list of birds of North Carolina, and have changed the yellow-browed sparrow article to say it has occurred in the southeastern US. There are no records for this bird in North America, so I've changed both of those articles to remove those comments. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions — or if you have a published source that shows otherwise! MeegsC (talk) 01:21, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm sorry that you've been hurt and discouraged by my removal of your personal sightings in the yellow-browed sparrow article; that was certainly not my intention. However, I have to say it's likely that what you're seeing are white-throated sparrows — indeed, one of their common names used to be "yellow-browed sparrow"! Ammodramus aurifrons, which is the current holder of the "yellow-browed sparrow" name, has never been recorded north of Venezuela, so it is beyond unlikely that there is a flock of them in your yard. :) That's why we require reliable sources for information, rather than personal observations; one person alone can honestly make a mis-identification. What you need to do to get this information included (if you're right and a previously unrecorded group has somehow made its way to North America and your backyard) is to contact your local Audubon society, have someone with a good camera get some identifiable pictures, get that sighting published in a reputable publication (i.e. a reliable source) and then link to that source when re-adding the information. If you need the number of your local Audubon group, let me know; I can help. MeegsC (talk) 13:57, 2 January 2015 (UTC)