Common Ground Dove and eBird

Birders,

Due to the frequent mis-identification and erroneous entry of Common Ground Dove in San Diego away from known sites like Borrego and the Tijuana River Valley, I've set the filter for this species on the coastal slope and the foothills to zero (it was already zero in the mountains and less concern in the desert). Simply having it as an available entry without being flagged allows for people to mistakenly tap it when they aim to enter Mourning Dove. What this means is that Common Ground Dove will now appear on the Rare Bird Alert and observations will need to be vetted, *especially away from known locations.* Those records from people's backyards or from odd locations will need to be documented as normal. Scrutiny of entries from the Bird and Butterfly Garden, for example, however, will not be as rigorous but it is still good practice to document, even briefly, records flagged by eBird.

Best,

Justyn Stahl