I'll address this to the whole group in the event that others have similar questions. In many cases where a bird may not seem rare at your location you need to take into consideration the scale of the filter that is covering the area you are submitting the observation for. Because the majority of the birds in "Downeast" Maine have fairly similar overall abundances and timings of arrivals and departures, both Hancock and Washington Counties have been lumped together to create the filters that designate what is "rare" versus expected at different times of the year within those regions.
While Red-bellied Woodpeckers have become more regular across the southern half of Maine, they are still fairly rare east of Bar Harbor (and north of Bangor). Hancock County currently has 103 records while Washington County only has 25 records submitted. Here is a map to show their distribution in Hancock and Washington Counties: http://tinyurl.com/zjwoapl
I'll clarify that eBird does "allow" you to add rare sightings to any list, it just asks for a description or photos/audio (if available) to help the review process. Carol, you did a great job adding a notes that clearly stated you were able to identify the bird you saw and eliminate other possibilities, which allows reviewers to accept your submission without even sending an inquiry.
I wrote a short article about the distribution of Maine's filter in December 2013. While it is probably in need of an update, you can read it (or at least see how the filters are broken up) here: http://ebird.org/content/me/news/maines-filters/
Hope this sheds some light on the subject.
Good birding,
Doug Hitchcox
Portland, ME
On Jan 20, 2016, at 5:31 PM, Tammy Packie <tpackie@gmail.com> wrote:I don't know why they question it either. We have had them here in Hulls Cove before. In fact Rich came to our house in June 09 to see the first one because it was rare. We had one several times last winter too. Tammy & Rob PackieOn Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 4:58 PM, Carol Muth <suzmuth@gmail.com> wrote:A Red-bellied woodpecker was at our feeder this afternoon for a few minutes. It did not return and I was not able to find my camera in time.Fortunately it was Wally who spotted the bird, so you don't have to take my word for it.However, eBird does not know Wally and they did not let me add the bird to my checklist. I filled out comments in order to submit it, but there was nothing special to say except for a brief description.I looked on the data for Hancock County and see that it was reported on Jan 2 about a mile from our house, and I have seen recent photos of other RBWO on Robin's MAINE Birds Facebook page, so I don't know why it is being questioned. Oh, well.Carol--
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