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Tennessee Bird Records Committee
Resolution
Governing the TBRC AMENDED RESOLUTION GOVERNING THE OPERATION OF THE
TENNESSEE BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE (TBRC), A SPECIAL COMMITTEE
OF THE TENNESSEE
ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY (TOS). I.
The TBRC shall have three primary responsibilities: A.
The TBRC shall be concerned with thorough, scientific verification of the
first, second, and third sightings of the bird species in Tennessee. Verified species
will be added to "The Official List of Tennessee Birds". B.
The TBRC shall be concerned with the thorough, scientific verification
of sightings of any species which as a certain status code for the appropriate
season and geographic region. For each species on "The Official List of Tennessee
Birds", the TBRC will assign seasonal status codes for each of the three
major geographic regions of the state. The TBRC will adopt a system of codes which
it deems appropriate, and such codes, with definitions, will be published alongside
any published report of the TBRC as required elsewhere in these by-laws. Such
publication will also indicate which codes require documentation. C.
The TBRC shall consider and take action upon any other record submitted
by any observer. II.
A species will be confirmed on "The Official List of Tennessee Birds"
if supported by one of the following conditions: A.
Verified extant specimen (and written evidence from the person examining
the specimen, preferably the curator of an ornithological collection, who can
thoroughly compare the specimen with related specimens). B.
Verified extant photograph. C.
Verified extant sound recording (and written evidence from the person examining
the recording, preferably someone who can throroughly compare the recording with
other pertinent recordings). D.
Verified written documentation of three independent observations of a species
OR verified written documentation from three independent observers of the same
individual bird.
i.
In all cases (A - D), verification requires a minimum of five affirmative
votes from the members of the TBRC. Once a species has been confirmed on "The
Official List of Tennessee Birds", second and third sightings of that species
are exempt from conditions (A - D) and require a minimum of five affirmative votes
of the members of the TBRC. III.
Any sighting which is not a first, second, or third sighting for a species
may be verified with a minimum of five affirmative votes. IV.
In the absence of evidence fitting one of the above categories, a species
may become a provisional species on "The Official List of Tennessee Birds"
if supported by verified written documentation of one or two independent observations.
In this case, verification also requires a minimum of five affirmative votes.
V.
In cases where documentation of a first state record of a species is not
approved by the TBRC, the species will not appear on "The Official List of
Tennessee Birds". The committee will retain the documentation on file in
the event that future review of it may be advisable. Review of unaccepted documentation
will be granted automatically upon request by any observer who provides new and/or
additional documentation about a sighting which has not been approved. VI.
The TBRC shall consist of six regular members appointed by the TOS President
at the fall meeting of the TOS. One alternate member will also similarly be appointed.
Prior to any such appointment, the TBRC will nominate two candidates for each
vacancy on the committee. The President must choose from among the nominees. If
the President rejects any or all of the nominees, the committee will nominate
two additional candidates for each seat which remains open. This process will
continue until all vacancies have been filled. Pairs of appointees will serve
staggered terms, and each term will last three terms. Regular members may not
serve more than two consecutive terms, but an alternate may do so. A regular member
may be appointed as an alternate in a successive term, and an alternate may be
appointed as a regular member in a successive term. If an alternate becomes a
regular member due to the inability of another regular member to complete the
three year term, the alternate will only serve out the remainder of the regular
member's term. VII.
Each fall, after the appointment of new regular or alternate members by
the TOS President, the TBRC will elect from among themselves a secretary to handle
the affairs of the committee for the next year. The outgoing secretary will turn
over to the incoming secretary all the current files of the committee in a timely
manner. Completed files will be turned over to the TOS curator for archiving.
VIII.
The TBRC secretary will be responsible for calling one or more special
TBRC meetings per year as required and for making arrangements for TBRC meetings
at the spring and fall state meetings of the general TOS membership. Intent of
these meetings will be to ensure as much as possible that each year's bird-record
submittals are acted upon before or during the fall general meeting. IX.
The secretary of the TBRC will maintain minutes of the meetings of the
committee and files on all actions taken by the committee. Copies of the minutes
will be available to all TOS members who wish to have them. The TBRC will be responsible
for organizing its procedures. These procedures will be printed (and published
in "The Warbler" whenever modified and additionally as necessary, and
copies will be available from the TBRC secretary to all TOS members. Meetings
of the TBRC will be open to all TOS members and publicized in advance. X.
During votes, an alternate may not vote unless a regular member is disqualified.
Members must disqualify themselves when votes are taken on sightings of birds
they originally found, but they may vote on birds they have seen if the birds
were found and identified originally by other observers. If there are not enough
eligible members, only the member who submits the initial documentation will be
disqualified. During meetings of the TBRC, voting will be documented, roll-call
vote. Voting by mail may occur when appropriate to expedite the affairs of the
committee.
TBRC
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