Two mapping related wishes for Observado:
(1) Change United Kingdom to Great Britain
Reason: It really comes down to whether the areas created in Observado should reflect political boundaries or follow those boundaries usually used by bird and other listers. The
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland refers to the political entity comprising England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, while
Great Britain refers to the island of Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). I don't know of any listers who keep a United Kingdom list, almost all use the island of Great Britain for listing purposes.
(2) Add Northern Ireland to the area "Ireland"
Reason: As mentioned above, it is a choice about the map. Following the conflicts in Northern Ireland in the last few decades there is a lot of controversy about the terms Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Ireland is generally a neutral term used to define the island of Ireland, comprising the
Republic of Ireland and
Northern Ireland. As with Great Britain, all Irish (Republic and Northern) bird (and other) listers use the entire island of Ireland for listing purposes. Adding subsites such as
Ireland- Republic of Ireland and
Ireland- Northern Ireland would be useful for those wishing to keep seperate lists. One small problem would be the use of the
Irish tricolour for the area "Ireland". I would favour using
this flag as it is currently the only flag used by sporting teams representing both the Republic and Northern Ireland.