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Does anyone know the likelihood of the bird list changing by much next year. I know they usually tweak the list a little bit, but since they are replaying 2020 rules does that mean the same exact list?

ChimpLopez wrote: ↑March 12th, 2020, 2:08 pm Does anyone know the likelihood of the bird list changing by much next year. I know they usually tweak the list a little bit, but since they are replaying 2020 rules does that mean the same exact list?

I think same. My own interpretation of the statement is that NSO will be fixing things like the mess that is Detector rules and maybe fixing taxonomical/spelling errors on lists, etc.

For a person just starting out in ornithology, would wikipedia be a good source to get all the details?

Chiweenie wrote: ↑March 21st, 2020, 2:50 pm For a person just starting out in ornithology, would wikipedia be a good source to get all the details?

Yes, or at least for some details. I wouldn't rely on WP for everything, but for starting out, it's not a bad source.

Chiweenie wrote: ↑March 21st, 2020, 2:50 pm For a person just starting out in ornithology, would wikipedia be a good source to get all the details?

All About Birds and Audubon aren't bad sources either. Note that many low-effort tests (less prestigious invitationals) will pull data straight from these sources word for word on their tests.
While Wikipedia is used in these, All About Birds is used more often, so be wary of that.

There was a question on the test this year regarding a species identified as "black bird" but the answers listed were not in the 2020 Bird list anywhere.

llxlexillx wrote: ↑March 27th, 2020, 8:53 am There was a question on the test this year regarding a species identified as "black bird" but the answers listed were not in the 2020 Bird list anywhere.

There are yellow-headed/red-winged blackbirds as well as other blackbirds species without "blackbird" in the name, but if the answer key name was not part of the Bird List, the test was probably written off-spec. You likely won't see it come up on future tests unless they are by the same writer.

So I'm going to assume I won't have to spend thousands of hours making a new orni binder this year, correct?

Probably (hopefully)

JoeyC wrote: ↑March 29th, 2020, 1:01 pm Probably (hopefully)

*sighs in relief* I would not like those terrible memories again *shudders*