GREENE CO., MO. — Inspired by Lake Superior State University’s List of Banished Words, I’ve compiled (with apologies to the good university) a List of Words Banished from the Birding World for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness:

RELOCATED — Unless a birder captured the rarity under discussion and transported it to another location (which, aside from being illegal, could spark violent reprisals from other twitchers), he or she cannot correctly claim to have “relocated” the bird. On the other hand, maybe this explains why some people get all the good birds. You know who you are.

SP. — If you couldn’t identify it, then don’t report it. The instances in which “meadowlark sp.” or “Accipiter sp.” represent data of use to scientists or of interest to other birders are few and far between. Try harder next time, people.

WARBLERAMA — I’ll alert the media — or should we call a doctor?

MY FIELD GUIDE DOESN’T SHOW THIS BIRD — Yes, it does.

I KNOW PILEATEDS, AND THAT WAS NO PILEATED — No, you don’t, and yes, it was. You’re not allowed to talk for the next three days.

IBWO/IVORY-BILL/CONFIRMED SIGHTING/LEAP OF FAITH — This issue has stirred up more vitriol and hard feelings in the birding community than anything else I can think of. The slightest mention of the species is flamebait. Many civilized birders have given up talking about the situation, and I think everybody else should as well. Leave it to the folks who actually understand what’s going on. Hint: That isn’t you.

DIP/DIPPED — Far be it from me to criticize another dialect of our esteemed mother tongue, but this British-ism for missing a target bird has got to be one of the dumbest expressions I’ve ever heard.

X-BILL — This pseudo-abbreviation for “crossbill” is just plain annoying. By the time you actually find the key to make a hyphen, you’ve used up more time than you would have if you’d just typed it right in the first place.

BIRDERS FLOCK — No editor, it seems, can pass up this tired, sloppy pun in a headline about a rare bird and the people who wanted to see it.

FALLOUT — I’m placing a one-year moratorium on this word, which gets tossed around whenever somebody finds three Indigo Buntings in the same tree. In fact, evidence indicates that true fallouts rarely, if ever, occur these days as many bird populations continue to decline.

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