The help topic in your Diary User's Guide explains use of the Checklist Editor in very good detail. I will add more information here on the following topics. Please read both the User's Guide section on the Checklist Editor and this thread. It is imperative in order to understand and make checklist changes correctly.

Understanding Diary things and Common Names and how they relate

Birder's Diary is extremely unique in that it can not only handle multiple taxonomic lists for various plant and animal groups, but that it can handle multiple taxonomic lists covering the same plant or animal group. An example is the American Ornithological Union taxonomic list and British Ornithological Union taxonomic list. They both classify some of the same birds. Of that set, they sometimes don't agree on either the common name or the scientific name - or both! They may not even agree on the sort order in their respective lists or even if the bird is a full species or subspecies. All of this even when both sides are talking about the same thing. The same exact population of birds!

Argghhh. How can Birder's Diary handle reconciling these differences so that entering a sighting of an Arctic Loon on the AOU list will also show up as a sighting of a Black-throated Diver on the BOU list?

This is done via a level of indirection in Diary. Diary has its own internal name for this thing. Now here is where the confusion can start to arise. Instead of using an internal name of "QRZ8273" we actually started with the preferred common name as specified by Mic Wells taxonomic list. Then we updated them using Clements list; and finally until there are some real misnomers used in our internal naming.

All throughout Diary, this internal name is referred to as the Thing Description - or just description.

Just because a thing description shares the same name as some thing classified in a given taxonomic list, don't assume that this is what Diary is linking it to.

HINT: If in doubt about what an internal Thing Description really refers to, use the Rosetta Stone.

For example, just because a thing description is "Arctic Loon" do not assume that that is what the AOU's Arctic Loon is connected to internally.

What does a THING have to do with checklist data?

In Birder's Diary, the thing is everything. It is what your sightings are linked to. It is why a sighting of an Arctic Loon in the AOU list shows as a Black-throated Diver when using the BOU list. AND, it is also what location data is linked to. A checklist serves to tie a thing to a location. For example, an Andean Tinamou to Bolivia; a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake to Arizona and so on.

When you are using the Checklist Editor, you are dealing with Birder's Diary internal things. In most instances, the thing description is the common name used by Clements - but not all. When in doubt, use the Rosetta Stone combined with the location information from the checklist editor to confirm you are dealing with the right thing.

However, when typing a name into either of the two "Thing" fields in the Checklist Editor, you can enter any of the following:

• Thing Description
• Common Name (as specified by any loaded taxonomic list)
• Scientific Name (as specified by any loaded taxonomic list)
• Band Code

Diary contains an exhaustive list of aliases. If the text you enter could refer to more than thing, you will be asked to choose which you mean.

When to use the Location tab and when to use the Thing tab in the Checklist Editor

If you are updating the list of things seen at a location, then use the Location Checklist tab. Otherwise, if you are updating the list of locations that a thing can be found, use the Thing Checklist tab.