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2006 News and Decisionsfrom the Records Committee (BOURC)Recent news and announcements~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~5 December 2006Admitted to Category A of the British List Chestnut-eared Bunting Emberiza fucata First winter The British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC) has accepted the record of a Chestnut-eared Bunting Emeriza fucata (of the nominate subspecies fucata ) seen on Fair Isle, Shetland, on 15 – 20 October 2004 as the first British record. The species has a patchy breeding range from Japan in the east, west through the Korean peninsula, southern and central China, the western Himalayas, Nepal, Kashmir and Pakistan. The nominate migratory subspecies fucata has a breeding distribution that is wholly east of Lake Baikal. Some of the known populations of nominate fucata , in the lower Yangtze and Fujian regions of China, are within the range of other vagrants known to occur in Britain. However, only a handful of vagrant species have breeding distributions that are wholly east of Lake Baikal. Given the restricted and far eastern distribution, Chestnut-eared Bunting would appear to be an unlikely vagrant to Britain, although its range does overlap the ranges of known vagrant species. It is not currently known in captive bird trade (but there is some evidence that it has been previously traded). In addition, the outbreak of Avian Influenza in the Far East in 2004 curtailed legitimate trade of captive birds between the Far East and Europe. These bans were in place during autumn 2004 and would reduce the risk of captive origin even more (although a man was caught smuggling two Crested Hawk-eagles (infected with Avian Influenza) into Europe from Thailand at this time, indicating that illegal trade in wild birds continued throughout the ban). The age of this individual, the date, the location and associated eastern vagrants are all supportive of natural vagrancy. The support cast of eastern vagrants included another first for Britain (and the Western Palaearctic), Rufous-tailed Robin, which was also found on Fair Isle later that week on 23 October, and also coincided with an Eastern Crowned Warbler in Finland. All three species are from the far Eastern Palearctic. Bob McGowan, Chairman of BOURC, commented “However unlikely it might have seemed to some, the credentials for natural vagrancy of the Fair Isle record were solidly based. As a trapped bird, the biometrics and plumage characters established it as an individual from the migratory population, nominate fucata . Its age also conformed to the usual pattern of first winter eastern vagrants, although it was not possible to ascertain the sex of the bird. The Committee analysed in considerable detail the migration timings, routes and distances of the species and this showed that a mid-October arrival date at Fair Isle was plausible for a vagrant Chestnut-eared Bunting. Certainly the support cast of other eastern vagrants, and in particular the Rufous-tailed Robin, virtually coincident at Fair Isle, was considered highly significant.” As there was no strong ground for doubt about its wild origins, the Committee agreed to accept this to Category A of the British List. The British List stands at 573 species (Category A = 553; Category B = 10; Category C = 10). For further information, you can contact –
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~14 July 2006The British List The seventh edition of The British List: a Checklist of Birds of Britain is published this month in the BOU's journal Ibis ( 148 : 526-563) and replaces the sixth edition A Checklist of Birds of Britain and Ireland (Knox (Ed.) 1992). The British List includes changes made to the British List up to and including the BOU Record Committee's (BOURC) 33rd Report ( Ibis 148 : 594) and the BOURC's Taxonomic Sub-committee's 3 rd report ( Ibis 147 : 821-826). The 33 rd BOURC report details the following changes which are included in the new edition of The British List - Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae Rufous-tailed Robin Luscinia sibilans Moustached Warbler Acrocephalus melanopogon Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus Also considered - Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus sinensis The British List now stands at 572 species (Category A = 552; Category B = 10; Category C = 10). The British List can be viewed online at www.bou.org.uk/recbrlst.html. The BOURC 33rd report can viewed online at www.bou.org.uk/recreps.html. Copies of the July issue of Ibis in which The British List is published can be purchased from the BOU priced £7.50 (orders to: email sales@bou.org.uk , tel 01 865 281 842). For further information, you can contact –
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~5 April 2006Admitted to Category A of the British List Rufous-tailed Robin Luscinia sibilans First-winter The British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC) has admitted Rufous-tailed Robin Luscinia sibilans to Category A of the British List following the occurrence of a first-winter bird on Fair Isle, Shetland on 23 October 2004 (sight record, photographed, trapped). Rufous-tailed Robin is a long distance migrant breeding in the Siberian taiga from the lower Yenesei valley in the west, across the Russian Far East to Northern Mongolia. It winters largely in southern China and eastern Southeast Asia. Within its known breeding range it is relatively scarce, but breeds within the range of other known vagrants such as Siberian Blue Robin and Pallas's Warbler. The species is uncommon in the cage bird trade, and is known to be difficult to breed with no breeding reported since 2001. European import bans in place in autumn 2004 due to the Avian Infleunza outbreak in the Far East has curbed the trade of wild birds from the Far East to Europe, so legal channels of import for this and other eastern species were closed before and during the period of this occurrence. Illegal imports into the EU cannot be totally discounted, but the balance of opinion in this case, was firmly in favour of genuine vagrancy. This is the first record for the Western Palearctic. One subsequent report: Bialystock, Poland on 30-31 December 2005. Interestingly, this species was predicted by Ian Wallace as a likely vagrant to occur in Europe in his Palearctic Passerine Predictions paper in British Birds in 1980. Eric Meek, Chairman of BOURC commented “Siberian vagrants always provide their finders with a special sort of thrill, and the excitement of this particular find has already been well documented. An inveterate skulker of forest floors, most birders, if they have encountered this species at all, will have seen it at one of the Far East's migration watch points such as Beidaihe. That this one turned up on Fair Isle, where forest floors are few and far between, at least gave the observers a better chance of prolonged views. Long considered a possibility for the British List, members of the BOURC were unanimous in their agreement that Rufous-tailed Robin should be added to Category A of the British List” The British List now stands at 573 species (Category A = 553; Category B = 10; Category C = 10For further information, you can contact –
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