Rules of Operation
Section 1. The Oregon Bird Records Committee.
1.10 Name.
The Oregon Bird Records Committee (Committee or OBRC) is a committee of Oregon Field Ornithologists (OFO), an Oregon not-for-profit corporation.
1.20 Address.
The OBRC maintains a mailing address. The present address is: P.O. Box 10373, Eugene, Oregon 97440.
Section 2. The purposes of the Oregon Bird Records Committee.
2.10 Review of bird records.
The OBRC shall review for acceptability the records submitted of birds within the state of Oregon.
2.20 List of Oregon Birds.
(a) The OBRC shall maintain an official “List of Oregon Birds,” a current list of species known to have occurred in Oregon.
(b) The List shall be revised from time to time to account for changes arising from the Committee's review of bird records.
(c) The List may include additional information deemed by the Committee to be helpful in understanding the status and distribution of bird species in Oregon.
2.30 Files.
(a) The OBRC, acting primarily through the OBRC Secretary, shall maintain permanent files of the records it receives.
(b) The Secretary shall arrange a duplicate set of files. Sets shall be maintained apart from each other for security reasons.
2.40 Other purposes.
The OBRC may undertake any other activities deemed necessary to attain an understanding of the status and distribution of Oregon's birds.
Section 3. The Secretary of the Oregon Bird Records Committee.
3.10 Eligibility.
The Secretary must be a member of Oregon Field Ornithologists.
3.20 Appointment.
The Secretary of the Committee shall be appointed for a 1-year term by majority vote of the Committee.
3.30 Duties.
The Secretary (or Secretary's designate) shall call an annual meeting, call a special meeting at the request of a majority of members, chair meetings of the Committee, manage Committee correspondence, keep the files of the Committee or arrange for their safe keeping, process the reports of birds that are submitted, and perform other necessary duties to facilitate the operation of the Committee.
3.40 Removal.
The Secretary may be removed for cause by a majority vote of the Committee at a meeting.
Section 4. Members of and Alternates to the Oregon Bird Records Committee.
4.10 Eligibility.
Any member of Oregon Field Ornithologists may be a member of or alternate to the OBRC.
4.20 Number and term of members and alternates.
(a) Members. The OBRC shall consist of 9 members, 3 each appointed to staggered 3-year terms. Members' terms will end on December 31 of the year of expiration. Members filling vacant positions may serve until the end of the 3-year term.
(b) Alternates. The OBRC shall include up to 5 alternates, each having a 1-year term. Alternates' terms will end on December 31 of each year. Vacated alternate positions shall not be filled unless there become fewer than 3 alternates, in which case the Committee may appoint replacement Alternates.
4.30 Nomination.
(a) The OBRC solicits nominations each year for membership. Nominations may be made by any member of OFO and by organizations that support the OBRC. The nominator must demonstrate the approval of the nominee for the nomination. Nominations must be received by the Secretary of the Committee by November 30. Current OBRC members whose terms are to expire at the end of the year are automatically nominated unless the member indicates to the Secretary by November 30 that the member does not wish to be nominated for another term.
(b) The Secretary shall prepare a ballot in early December for polling the preference of the members of the Committee. Each eligible person nominated shall be placed on the ballot in alphabetical order. The poll may be conducted by m ail, by email, at a meeting.
(c) Members of the Committee shall vote for up to 6 nominees, assigning points for their preferences in descending order from 6 to 1. Alternates shall not vote in the place of absent members. If a member(s) cannot vote the polling shall be conducted only among remaining members. Members who are absent may arrange with the Secretary to vote earlier by indicating their choices in the same manner (this constitutes both the member's nomination and ballot). Ballots shall be returned to the Secretary by December 30 for tallying.
(d) In the event of a tie for the last position on the Committee (for example, if there are 3 expired positions and the polling shows 2 leading nominees and 2 nominees tied for third), the Secretary shall conduct another poll of the Committee members to determine a preference between the nominees for the last position.
(e) The Secretary shall prepare a list of the nominees arranged in order of the number of points from the members' poll, and forward that list with point totals to each nominee and to each Committee member.
4.40 Appointment of members.
The Committee members' poll forwarded by the Secretary shall constitute the appointment of the members of the Committee.
4.50 Appointment of alternates.
(a) Alternates shall be appointed by the OBRC.
(b) Alternates shall be appointed in this order:
(1) any Committee member(s) whose term(s) expired and who was(were) not reappointed to the Committee; and
(2) nominees for Committee membership in the order in which they received the most votes in the members' poll, and who were not appointed to the Committee, up to the number of vacancies for alternates.
(c) No alternate shall be appointed who had not received votes from at least 2 members.
4.60 Duties of members and alternates.
(a) Members shall:
(1) Attend meetings.
(2) Vote in a timely manner on records circulated by mail. Members are expected to vote on records within 3 weeks of receipt, or pass the records on to the next member.
(3) Respond to requests regarding other OBRC business.
(4) Apprise the Secretary of anticipated meeting absences or unavailability for review of circulating records.
(b) Alternates shall vote on records as a substitute for absent members as arranged by the Secretary. Alternates may not vote on Committee business.
4.70 Absence of members.
(a) Short term absences. In the event a member is unable to attend a meeting of the OBRC, or will not be able to discharge the duties of a member for a period of time exceeding 1 month, the member shall notify the Secretary. The Secretary will arrange alternates to substitute for an absent member.
(b) Long term absences. Long term absences will be considered by the Committee on a case-by-case basis. A member is not absent if the member can discharge by mail the duties of a member.
4.80 Resignation and removal of members; replacement.
(a) Removal . Any Committee member may be removed for cause from the Committee by majority vote of the members of the Committee at a meeting .
(b) Filling vacancies . In the event of removal or resignation before a member's term is expired, the Committee shall appoint a replacement for the remainder of the 3-year term. The polling of the Committee from the most recent members' poll of nominees shall constitute the basis for the appointment. The Secretary shall notify Alternates of their appointment to the Committee in the order of the highest number of votes in the most recent members' poll.
Section 5. The operations of the Oregon Bird Records Committee.
5.10 Meetings.
(a) Annual and special meetings . The Committee shall meet at least once a year. Additional meetings may be held as necessary. A meeting may be called at any time by a request of the majority of members or by the Secretary.
(b) Notice . Written notice of meetings shall be given to all Members and Alternates 21 days in advance.
(c) Meetings open . Meetings shall be open to the public, except that for cause a meeting may be closed by request of a majority of members.
(d) Quorum .
(1) A quorum for purposes of Committee business shall be 6 members present at a meeting.
(2) For bird records, a quorum is 8 members or 8 members and alternates (at least 6 of whom are members).
5.20 Records to be considered.
(a) Records of rare birds in Oregon shall be considered by the OBRC.
(b) “Rare birds” are those (1) heretofore unknown in Oregon or (2) listed by the Committee on the Review List. The OBRC shall consider a rare species until 20 records in a 10-year period are accepted, at which time the OBRC may decide to remove the species from the Review List.
(c) “Oregon” is defined as the area within the political boundary of the state and adjacent waters to a distance of 200 miles from land. The latitude of the Washington and California boundaries on the coast is the northern and southern limit offshore.
5.30 Definitions of decisions.
(a) Not accepted . There are 3 classes of records that are “not accepted”:
(1) “Not accepted, without qualification,” means a Committee member believes that (A) the evidence does not adequately support the species identification, or (B) the evidence is accurate for 2 or more species, one or more of which is a non-review species and the species cannot be separated on the basis of the evidence.
(2) “Not accepted, origin questionable,” means a Committee member believes that the evidence supports the identification of the species and rules out all other species, but that the bird may have been a captive individual that had been released or had escaped.
(3) “Not accepted, exotic bird not established,” means a Committee member believes that the evidence adequately describes the species and rules out all other species but that the population of the species has not been established.
(b) Accepted . There are 3 classes of records that are “accepted”:
(1) “Accepted, verified,” means a Committee member believes that the evidence adequately describes the species and rules out all others, and that the record is supported by a specimen, photograph, or video or sound recording.
(2) “Accepted, sight record,” means a Committee member believes that the evidence adequately supports the species identification and rules out all other species, but that there is no verification for the record. There are 2 classes of “sight records”: (A) “Single-report sight record” means that only one observer's evidence was accepted; and (B) “Multiple-report sight record” means that more than one observer's evidence was accepted.
(3) “Accepted, museum or published record,” means a Committee member believes that the record is adequately supported by accession into a museum or publication in a professional journal.
(c) Species unresolved , means a Committee member believes that the evidence supports the identification of 2 or more closely related species, both or all of which are review species. Members shall specify candidate species in their remarks written on the ballot.
5.40 Voting.
(a) General .
(1) Role of the Secretary. All evidence of rare birds submitted to the OBRC shall be referred to the Secretary. The evidence may be submitted in the form of a report, or the Secretary may gather the evidence into a report. The Secretary shall assign each report to a Record Number, new or existing. Each written description, specimen, photograph, and recording making up the report shall be given a unique subset number under the Record Number.
(2) Ballot. A copy of the ballot used for voting is attached to these Rules of Operation.
(3) Splitting and combining records.
(A) When to split -- the Committee member believes that the evidence supports a separate record that should be placed under a different Record Number.
(B) When to combine -- the Committee member believes that the evidence indicates a record should be combined with another record or records under a single Record Number.
(4) Reconsideration of records.
(A) Any record may be reconsidered and voted on again at the request of: (i) any member of the Committee, for reasons stated by the Committee member in writing; or (ii) the Secretary, if additional information has been received by the Secretary or the Secretary is aware that new circumstances have arisen since the record was voted on.
(B) Reconsideration at meetings only. Records shall be reconsidered at a meeting only, and shall not be circulated for voting by mail. The Secretary shall note the nature of the evidence in the meeting notice.
(b) Voting by mail .
(1) Role of the Secretary. For purposes of voting by mail, records can be divided into 3 groups:
(A) records supported only by written evidence;
(B) records supported by written evidence and by photographs and/or other evidence that can mailed; and
(C) records supported entirely or in part by evidence that cannot be mailed.
The Secretary shall separate records into these 3 groups and arrange for the Committee to vote on them according to the provisions in this section. The Secretary may arrange packets of records for circulation by mail as seems most economical, consistent with the purposes of the Committee.
(2) Written records (A above). For records supported only by written evidence, the Secretary shall circulate the records to members in a manner that best achieves the purposes of the Committee. For example, the Secretary may make multiple copies of these records for simultaneous review by several members. The Secretary shall exercise discretion for circulating records in this category, bearing in mind economy, effort, and the goal of timely review of records.
(3) Records supported by written evidence and by photographs and/or other evidence that can be mailed (B above). For these records, the Secretary will send the entire record to the first member of the Committee. The first member of the Committee reviews the evidence and draws conclusions about each record. The member fills in a ballot on each record with the decision and reasons for the decision. The member then sends the ballots to the Secretary and sends the records on to the second member of the Committee. This process repeats until the last member of the Committee sends the records back to the Secretary along with the member's ballots.
(4) Acceptance or rejection on first round. If a record receives no “not accepted” votes, it is accepted. If a record receives 9 “not accepted” votes, it is rejected. If a record receives 1 to 8 “not accepted” votes, it is sent by the Secretary on a second round of voting by mail.
(5) Independent voting on first round. The members of the Committee shall not discuss any record under consideration on the first round with other members of the Committee, although members may discuss it with anyone outside the Committee. This allows each member of the Committee to review the record without being influenced by other Committee members on the first round.
(6) Second round voting. In cases where a record received 1 to 8 “not accepted” votes on the first round, the Secretary initiates a second round of voting by mail. The Secretary includes copies of the members' first round comments (or copies of the ballots) in the second round mailing. On the second round the Committee members may read the comments of other Committee members and may draw a new conclusion in light of these comments. If the record receives not more than 1 “not accepted” vote on the second round, it is accepted. If the record receives 8 or 9 “not accepted” votes on the second round, it is rejected. If the record receives 2 to 7 “not accepted” votes on the second round, it goes to a third round of voting.
(7) Third round voting. Third round voting shall be at a meeting.
(8) Reasons must be stated. There are no rules that Committee members have to follow when voting, except for the rule on independent voting on the first round. However, Committee members may state their reasons for not accepting a record in their comments sent to the Secretary. Stating reasons for accepting a record is optional. These reasons may be reviewed by other Committee members if there is second round voting, and the ballots from each round will become part of the permanent record in the OBRC files.
(9) Voting by alternates. The Secretary shall arrange for alternates to vote by mail when members are unable to vote on a particular record. Alternates shall rotate, as they are available to vote, on the basis of alphabetical order.
(10) Records supported entirely or in part by evidence that cannot be mailed (C above). These records shall be voted on only at a meeting. The Secretary shall note the nature of the evidence in the meeting notice.
(c) Voting at a meeting .
(1) Limitation. Only these records shall be voted on at a meeting: (A) third round records; (B) records supported entirely or in part by evidence that cannot be circulated by mail; and (C) records under reconsideration.
(2) Information. For third round records, the Secretary includes copies of the members' first and second round comments (or copies of the ballots) in the notice for third round voting. For records being reconsidered, the Secretary includes all information that can be mailed: documents that had been considered earlier, additional information that has become available, and the statement(s) requesting reconsideration.
(3) Written reasons need not be stated. When voting at a meeting, written ballots need not be prepared. The Secretary shall record the results of the voting on each record.
(4) Acceptance and rejection. When voting at a meeting, a record is accepted if it receives at least 6 “accepted” votes, otherwise it is rejected.
(5) Voting by alternates. When a quorum of the Committee is present at a meeting for voting on bird records, but the full Committee is not present, the Secretary shall designate alternates. Of the alternates that are present at a meeting, the Secretary shall designate a different alternate for each record in alphabetical order.
5.50 Notice to persons submitting reports.
The Secretary shall notify persons submitting reports to the Committee of the Committee's disposition of the record and may include copies of members' comments on the report (if any).
5.60 Other Committee business.
(a) Review List . The OBRC shall prepare and maintain a Review List, a list of those species for which the Committee desires reports. The Review List will indicate those species which have been verified and those for which the Committee has accepted only sight records. The Review List may be incorporated into the official List of Oregon Birds.
(b) Published records . Records considered by the Committee will be made available to any sponsoring group for publication. Records shall also appear in Oregon Birds , the official publication of OFO. Accepted records published in Oregon Birds shall include the species name, Record Number, the name(s) of observer(s) with indication of the person(s) first finding the bird (if known), where and when the bird was found, and the Committee's disposition of the record. Records not accepted shall include the same information without the name(s) of observer(s). Published photographs shall include the photographer's name.
Section 6. Use of Oregon Bird Records Committee material.
6.10 Duplication of file material.
Duplication of slides, photographs, film, and audio and video recordings, is not permitted for any use unless permission is obtained from the photographer or recordist. In the case of a request for copies for a major project, the Committee should be consulted.
6.20 Loans of file material.
Loans of slides, photographs, film, and audio and video recordings, are not permitted without specific approval of a majority of the Committee.
6.30 Availability of written material.
Written materials are available to interested persons as arranged with the Secretary.
Section 7. Financial support for the Oregon Bird Records Committee; disbursements.
7.10 Financial support.
The Committee may be financially supported by any person or organization that wishes to contribute to its activities. Each sponsoring organization providing financial support may request an annual financial statement and a report of the Committee's activities. Funds for Committee operations shall be paid into the account of the OFO and shall be disbursed to the Secretary upon presentation of appropriate statements or receipts.
7.20 Disbursements.
The Secretary shall ask the Committee for approval of capital or unusual expenses in excess of $100.00.
END OBRC Rules of Operation
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