The other six regular members can serve a maximum of six consecutive calendar years. After this six-year period, the member must be off the Committee for at least one year before being eligible again for membership as either a regular or alternate member.
Each of the three alternate members can serve a maximum of three consecutive calendar years. The responsibilities of alternate members are outlined below.
When a regular member's position is vacated, either by expiration of his/her term or by resignation, the vacancy can be filled either by a current or former alternate member or by a former regular member who has been off the Committee for at least one year. A vacancy in an alternate member's position can be filled by someone who has either never served on the Committee or not been a member for at least one year.
If a vacancy occurs by resignation of a regular member before that member has served the maximum six-year period, that member's replacement will be selected by the Committee chairperson and will serve only for the balance of that six-year period.
The names of potential nominees to fill other vacancies must be received no later than the Committee's December meeting. After determining, by consensus, which of these nominees are interested and qualified, the full Committee (all ten members) votes first for new regular members. The number of votes each member casts equals the number of vacancies. The person(s) receiving the most votes is/are selected, with any ties broken by the Chairperson. The same voting procedure then takes place if there are alternate positions to fill.
Except in the case of potential first state records (see below), seven members vote either 'Accepted' or 'Not Accepted' for each record; i.e., whether or not the documentation supports the observer's identification.
The seven regular Committee members vote on each record, unless a member was involved in the original discovery of the bird being voted on; with such a record, that regular member does not vote and is replaced by one of the alternate members in rotation. Generally, the circulation and voting of records takes place by U.S. mail and e-mail.
Before a record is sent out to the Committee for a vote, the chairperson can solicit comments on the record from persons with expertise on the species involved, and these comments are then included with the documentation for consideration by the Committee.
A record is considered Accepted or Not Accepted or Recirculated (i.e., held for discussion and a second vote) according to its status and the number of votes for acceptance.
Casual and Regular species:
Accepted vote 7-0, 6-1, or 5-2
Recirculated vote 4-3
Not Accepted vote 3-4, 2-5, 1-6, or 0-7
Accidental (A) species:
Accepted vote 7-0 or 6-1
Recirculated vote 5-2 or 4-3
Not Accepted vote 3-4, 2-5, 1-6, or 0-7
Accidental (AS) species:
Accepted vote 7-0
Recirculated vote 6-1, 5-2, or 4-3
Not Accepted vote 3-4, 2-5, 1-6, or 0-7
A Recirculated record is held for discussion at the next meeting of the Committee, a second vote on the record is then taken, and it is considered Accepted or Not Accepted according to the following:
Casual and Regular species:
Accepted vote 7-0, 6-1, or 5-2
Not Accepted vote 4-3, 3-4, 2-5, 1-6, or 0-7
Accidental (A) species:
Accepted vote 7-0 or 6-1
Not Accepted vote 5-2, 4-3, 3-4, 2-5, 1-6, or 0-7
Accidental (AS) species:
Accepted vote 7-0
Not Accepted vote 6-1, 5-2, 4-3, 3-4, 2-5, 1-6, or 0-7
For a potential first state record, the documentation is held for discussion at the next meeting of the Committee and then voted on. The three alternate members also vote on such records, and the vote for acceptance must be unanimous (10-0) for the record to be Accepted; if the vote is 9-1 or less for acceptance, the record is Not Accepted.
The documentation for the record is first voted on as usual; if the identification is found to be Accepted, the record is then held for further consideration if, by consensus of the Committee, there is reasonable uncertainty as to the bird's origin and wildness, or uncertainty as to its natural occurrence or arrival in the state.
A record is not held for consideration of its origin if its identification is voted on and found to be Not Accepted. Documentation for a bird which, by consensus, is considered to be of obviously captive origin — e.g., a Bar-headed Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Chukar, etc. — is not voted on and is automatically considered Not Accepted.
Appropriate research is then undertaken and evidence is collected relative to the bird's origin or natural occurrence.
At the Committee's next meeting, the evidence is then discussed and a vote is taken on the bird's wildness or arrival. The three alternate members vote on such records, for a total of 10 votes, with a simple majority vote (6-4 or higher) determining the status. There are three possible ways to vote:
Accepted as an Accidental (A or AS) — i.e., there is reasonable certainty the bird was wild and arrived under its own power.
Accepted as an Accidental (AO) — i.e., there is reasonable uncertainty as to the bird's origin and wildness, or uncertainty as to its natural occurrence or arrival in the state.
Not Accepted — i.e., the bird was probably an escape from captivity, or it did not arrive in the state under its own power.
Such votes generally only involve Accidental species. However, Regulars or Casuals could also be voted on in the same way, and such records of uncertain origin or arrival could be filed as RO or CO.
In addition to questions of origin and potential first state records, the three alternate members also vote in the following situations, with a total of ten votes and a simple majority vote (6-4 or higher) deciding these issues after discussion at a meeting:
Determining the status of species on the Checklist: i.e., if a species' Regular/Casual/Accidental status is not defined by the number of years it was recorded, or if a species is annotated with an “s” subscript or an asterisk (see p. 1-2).
Considering records of birds for which the identification is Accepted on the generic level, and there is a question whether the species can be determined on the basis of distribution. For example, it was decided that Minnesota's two frigatebird sight records were included as Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) on the Checklist, not as Fregata, sp.
Whether or not to reconsider and vote on a past record, if it is felt there is information about the record which was not adequately considered. Such a record may be one which the Committee had never reviewed or one previously voted on. If the majority votes to reconsider a record, the procedure for voting will be as defined earlier under Regular Voting Procedures.
The Committee's votes only determine which records are Accepted for inclusion in the MOU's permanent file and official record of Minnesota birds. These votes are not intended to determine what observers include on their personal, unpublished lists.
A summary of all records voted on by the Committee is published semi-annually in The Loon, journal of the MOU. These records are placed in the MOU's archives of Minnesota birds, which is located in the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota, 10 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455.