22 ILLINOIS AUDUBON BULLETIN 
At this point, I suggest that the reader try to predict what the result 
of this experiment might be. How many birders would get all the species 
except the oddball? How many species not in the cage would be reported? 
How many would get the rare species and what would they call the 
exotic? 
The ten beginners identified five to ten species each and for the most 
part were correct, naming species that were present. None got any rare 
species. The five others all very quickly pointed out the three rarities. No 
one listed more than 18 species. Everyone had at least one species on his 
list that was not present. The best list (18) had only one error, a House 
Wren. The bird that had been misidentified was actually a female 
Yellow-throat. The yellow was rather faded, though it still closely 
resembled an early fall, first-year, immature female. The trip was held in 
spring. The Whydah was a big bust, in a way. After the time was up we 
pointed it out. No one had noticed it despite the fact that it was perched 
on a bare twig in plain sight for all of the 20 minutes! A possible 
explanation is that people do not seem to notice birds that don’t fit into 
the preconceived context. In this case they were thinking northeast 
North America and their subconscious rejected this bird because it didn’t 
fit. If this explanation is true, it has interesting implications regarding 
how rarities could be easily passed up. A Virginia Rail, standing in plain 
sight, was also missed by all but two people. 
What shocked me most was the low percentage of species identified 
under apparently ideal or almost-ideal conditions, and the high incidence 
of error among good birders working on common birds. Conversely, all 
the rare species were identified almost immediately. 
Opportunities to try this experiment, or one that is similar, are few 
and far between because very few zoos have such a setup. Usually the 
number of local species is much more limited and/or they are scattered 
through the cages, mixed with many aliens. When feasible, it would be 
desirable to set this up to determine whether similar results would occur. 
—838 Brookside Avenue 
Livingston, N.J. 07039 
(Reprinted by permission, American Birding Association.) 
Destroyed buildings can be rebuilt; destroyed works of art may 
possibly be replaced by new creations; but every animal and 
every flower which becomes extinct is lost forever in the most 
absolute of all deaths. 
—Joseph Wood Krutch 
