Purple Finches in Howell, MI Considered Rare By eBird

[giannamaria]

So,
I use eBird, and did a few checklists today, one of the highlights being a purple finch.
eBird reached out to me saying: “The species you reported was flagged for review and is unusual for this date and/or location.” They went on to ask for additional media, so photos, gender, and the like. Of course, I provided those but I am wondering why they considered this purple finch obs to be unusual? I see them not as frequently as the other birds who visit, but I will see them out and about. and last winter a whole group of them lived nearby for awhile.

Does anyone know why they considered my obs unusual? do less people in my area submit purple finches on ebird so there are gaps in the data?

Here is the same obs for ebird and inat if anyone is curious:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S149457801
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/182504984

[pisum]

seems like this kind of question is best directed to the folks running eBird. here are their standard talking points on the subject: https://support.ebird.org/en/support/solutions/articles/48000795278-the-ebird-review-process.

[raymie]

Purple Finches are not a common bird, and they are confused with House Finches so often by novice birders that in many areas eBird want reviewers to confirm Purple Finch observations. Just make sure to get it across in the comments you know how to identify them and you should be fine.