Ornithology B/C

[Skink]

When I did it the whole test was basically identifying the birds by picture. No questions on behavior or morphology. Is this unusual?

That's incredibly unusual. Nothing other than ID?

Has to be an exaggeration. The rules state that no more than 50% of the test can be ID.

[amerikestrel]

When I did it the whole test was basically identifying the birds by picture. No questions on behavior or morphology. Is this unusual?

That's incredibly unusual. Nothing other than ID?

Has to be an exaggeration. The rules state that no more than 50% of the test can be ID.

It doesn't have to be an exaggeration. Sometimes test makers don't read the rules carefully, or they don't read them at all. It's unfortunate, but it happens. The best we can do is to prepare for anything that comes up.

[aubrey048]

Has to be an exaggeration. The rules state that no more than 50% of the test can be ID.

It doesn't have to be an exaggeration. Sometimes test makers don't read the rules carefully, or they don't read them at all. It's unfortunate, but it happens. The best we can do is to prepare for anything that comes up.

I assure you all, I was not exaggerating in the least. My region was also a bit . . . iffy, rules-wise with Anatomy, and I have heard similar accounts for the other study events. I really wish they would care/pay more attention. *sigh*

[kjhsscioly]

Regionals are usually proctored by coaches, so they probably don't know much about the topic. It is almost a certainty that there will be other stuff at state.

[aubrey048]

Ours are proctored by professors. Every event. Every single one. The professors know a lot about the topic, but not about the SO rules. Sadly.

[XXGeneration]

Ugh we just had our NJ states today;

The projector projecting the images was malfunctioning, and tinted everything orange. They tested us on calls that weren't on the list, like Turkey Vulture and Eastern Towhee. There were barely any questions about life style; most of it was ID by [orange-tinted] picture, or by call. It was pretty horribly organized.

I got 5th T-T

[kjhsscioly]

That is pretty awful, I am sorry you were in such a bad competition...

ID is a bad judge of ability, because it easy to memorize birds, but much harder to know things about them.

[XXGeneration]

Yeah, all the info I painstakingly put into my field guide like diet, nesting, clutch size, incubation time...etc. wasn't used whatsoever.

I could've taken the test without my field guide, because the questions were that easy.

[kjhsscioly]

Our invites looked like that... super easy IDs (think roseate spoonbill), and the questions were things you might learn in biology, like what class a bird was in, or if they were oviparous or viviparous

[Skink]

The professors know a lot about the topic, but not about the SO rules. Sadly.

That's why I always hand them a copy of the rules. Some say they have it already, and I've had others read it and pick up on a thing or two.

ID is a bad judge of ability, because it easy to memorize birds, but much harder to know things about them.

Hit the nail on the head. On the other hand...I don't appreciate questions like one from last year's invitational asking about a specific disease you've never heard of that afflicted the species at that station. Obscure facts like that give competitive advantage to the team that wrote the test. I mean, it's fair game, but, at the same time, it kind of isn't. If that makes any sense...

I could've taken the test without my field guide, because the questions were that easy.

Hm? Four teams beat you. Was this one of those times where the scores were all within a few points of each other?

Our invites looked like that... super easy IDs (think roseate spoonbill), and the questions were things you might learn in biology, like what class a bird was in, or if they were oviparous or viviparous

I hope you're not talking about CLC invitational...because that was poor.