Submission of records

Please contact the Secretary if you are unsure whether your record requires a submission and for guidance on what details to include in your submission. There is no time limit; past records of rare species are also sought in order to bring our database up to date.

EARC Protocols regarding the submission of records

All records must be ascribed to a species or subspecies that is designated an EARC rarity or is a first for East Africa or an East African country. Effectively this means that EARC will not act as an identifier of records. The observer is of course free to seek expert opinions as to the identity of a bird and may use that information as part of their submission.
Observers must describe the bird as accurately as possible in order to convince the EARC that it is the species being claimed beyond any doubt. For this purpose, the EARC has a template Rarity Form for facilitating the written description, which is available for downloading (see Form page).
Where photographs are obtained, these should be submitted in conjunction with the Rarity Form, but observers should still complete the Rarity Form as best they can, especially the Discussion under Section C. If images are available, please send them as separate files and not within the rarity form document.
Where sound recordings are obtained, these should be submitted in conjunction with the Rarity Form. However, under Section C, the observer must indicate how they know that the sound recording is that of the species being claimed and not, for example, a recording of a mimic. However the provision of autonomous or ambient obtained recordings to support first country records or significant range extensions are discouraged, unless it can be shown that there is no room for ambiguity or conjecture.