Judging Procedures
By Ken O'Steen

I imagine that the show judging procedures look confusing to a novice exhibitor or casual observer at their first bird show.

With that in mind I urge all of you who are considering exhibiting birds to purchase the American Cockatiel Society’s "Standard Of Perfection For Exhibition Cockatiels" booklet. This information filled publication contains not only the standard that all ACS Judges must use, but also has advice on filling out show tags, show classifications, and our visual standard. The Rules of the Judges Panel, the qualifications to become a judge, as well as a detailed explanation of our judging procedure is included in this book. You will also find a diagram on the proper way to band your baby birds, and a championship points schedule. The book is available through our sales store.

In this article I will comment briefly on the "locked in method" of judging, which all ACS Judges are required to use, and an explanation of how to fill in a show tag. Both of these subjects are covered more completely in the book.

ACS Judges must judge birds on a "one on one" basis, never assigning points as criteria. The locked in position makes it easier for the judge, the stewards, as well as the exhibitors. After the judge has finished judging at the class level he calls the class winners back for section judging.

At section level all first place class winners are brought back to the bench in accordance with their classification schedule. When the judge determines which class bird is best that bird is locked in as best in section. If that class has a second place bird it is called up and compared, if it is good enough it can move all the way to second in section. If there is no second place bird in that class the judge looks at the next first class bird and calls for its second place bird and compares to the remaining first class birds, again it can move up to third place, or be sent back. This same procedure is repeated in each section until all birds have been seen. After section winners have been determined the judge is ready to compare the winning section birds to a final best in division.

After the judge picks the top bird of the sections he has in effect named the "Best in Division". Each section is judged the same until the judge has his top bench picked. The novice bird are brought up and compared to the advanced birds and if good enough the can replace one or more of the advanced birds, if good enough the novice birds displace the advanced birds so there are only ten birds in the "combined bench". Depending on the total entry some or all of the top bench birds will receive championship points. Finally the Champions and Grand Champions, if any, are called up and compared. The Champs and Grand Champs can move all the way to Best in Show but the birds they replace will receive the same points as the Champ or Grand Champ. If this sounds complicated to you, I again urge you to get a copy of the booklet it says it in greater detail.

The cage tag or show tag is a vital part of the show. It should be filled in accurately and completely. The tag is the way the secretary keeps account of all the birds and ensures that every bird is seen at least once by the judge.

At the top of the tag is a space for the steward to write in the number of birds in each class. Below that is the line for the tag number this is filed in by the show committee of the host club. The number should be large and written with a marker type pen. This will allow the exhibitors to read the numbers from the gallery. The rest of the front of the tag is the responsibility of the exhibitor.

The first line is for the class the bird is entered, next comes the section, then the division.

The exhibitors name and address, a brief description of the bird and the band number is last.

After the steward accepts the bird cage and checks to ascertain if it correctly entered the bottom of the tag is folded up and sealed to assure anonymity.

The back of the cage has lines for how the bird finished in class, section, division and in show.

Also on the back is a space for the judge’s comments on the bird if any. The judge, of course fills out these lines as he/she places the birds.

I would suggest to anyone unsure of the correctness of your tag to ask the steward to double check for accuracy.