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Records Committee (BOURC)24th Report (October 1997)The reports of the Records Committee contain additions, corrections and modifications to the list of birds of Britain and Ireland maintained by the Records Committee on behalf of the BOU. This report covers the period July 1996 to September 1997 and is the eighth to follow publication of the most recent Checklist of Birds of Britain and Ireland (6th edition, March 1992). The 23rd Report appeared in Ibis 139: 197-201. The Checklist is available from the BOU office and specialist bookshops, price £4.95 (+ £1 p&p). The following changes have been made to the British List:Redhead Aythya americana (Eyton) Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus American Coot Fulica americana Kumlien's Gull Larus glaucoides kumlieni Blyth's Pipit Anthus godlewskii Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum Vieillot Dark-throated Thrush Turdus ruficollis Hume's Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus humei (Brooks) Eastern Bonelli's Warbler Phylloscopus orientalis (C. L.
Brehm) Bay-breasted Warbler Dendroica castanea (Wilson) Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala Pallas The following have also been consideredRed-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis South Polar Skua Catharacta maccormicki Desert Lark Ammomanes deserti Chestnut Bunting Emberiza rutila The decisions reported here increase the number of species on the British and the British & Irish lists to 557 and 551, respectively. These totals do not include "soft-plumaged" petrel Pterodroma mollis/P. madeira/P. feae, as the birds were not identified to species level (Ibis 134: 180). Those species only in Category D do not form part of the main list.
The following category A species have occurred in Ireland, but not in Britain: Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea, Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus, Elegant Tern Sterna elegans, Grey Catbird Dumetella carolinensis, Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca, Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea. Files under consideration (with date of receipt from BBRC):Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber Bufflehead Bucephala albeola Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus Accepted records from Bridgwater Bay, Somerset (October 1825) and Peldon, Essex (September 1868) are also being assessed as part of the review of all species currently in Category B. File is being re-circulated with additional information. Little Tern Sterna albifrons antillarum Olivaceous Warbler Hippolais pallida Booted Warbler Hippolais caligata rama Booted Warbler Hippolais caligata annectens Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs africana / F. c.
spodiogenys Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea Publications from members of the BOU Records Committee relating to the British & Irish list since the last Report (Ibis 139: 200).
Lists and categorisationAt the 1995 BOU conference at Peterborough (Holmes & Simons 1996. The Introduction and Naturalisation of Birds London, HMSO), it became apparent that it was necessary to improve the recording of non-native birds in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to assist the governmental agencies with their legislative responsibilities. As a result of this, the last two years have seen a major review of categorisation within the British List by the BOURC, and the accumulation of hundreds of records of escaped, non-native species that have been recorded at large in the countryside. After consultation with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), it also became apparent that the different legal systems in the two areas of Great Britain and Northern Ireland required separate lists to help the national agencies with their wild bird legislation. Consequently, in future, lists for both of these areas will be published in Ibis, with a combined list for Great Britain & Northern Ireland to replace the British & Irish List that has been published up until now. Full details of the categories will be published in the next Report, together with revised totals, and an explanatory paper is currently in preparation for British Birds. It is gratifying that government agencies such as JNCC look to the Union and its Records Committee when considering the status of birds, and their conservation and protection under national wildlife legislation. Association of European Rarities CommitteesIn July 1997, Alan Knox and David Parkin attended the fourth meeting of the Association of European Rarities Committees (AERC) at Blahova in the Slovak Republic. A decision was taken to review the taxonomic status of the birds of the West Palaearctic. A great deal of research is underway in Europe (and beyond) into the phylogenetics of birds, and a subcommittee was delegated to examine this over the next two years. It will attempt to produce a taxonomy for the AERC list of European birds. This is a major undertaking, as it will include both intra- and supra-specific relationships. Marrying together the philosophies of the phylogenetic and biological species concepts, and incorporating contemporary research in zoogeography, behaviour, morphology, acoustics and molecular biology is a challenging task. However, it is recognised that avian taxonomy is going through an exciting phase, and that European ornithologists should work together towards this common goal. AcknowledgementsAs always, we are very grateful for the observers for providing details of many of these birds. Other people help the Committee with individual records, and in particular we thank Per Alstršm, Peter Barthel, Dr Bill Bourne, Colin R Casey, Bill Clark, Lee Evans, Dick Forsman, Paul Herroelen, Tim Inskipp, Dr Tony Irwin, Bruce Mactavish, Bob McGowan, Dr John Richards, Dr Kees Roselaar, Hadoram Shirihai, Drs Arnoud van den Berg, Doug Weir, Geoff & Hilary Welch and Frank Woolham. The Committee is grateful to Michael Rogers, Secretary of the British Birds Rarities Committee, for assistance with the preparation of files, and his continuous good humour in the face of interminable questions and correspondence relating to the deliberations of his Committee. We thank the members of BBRC for their valuable comments on matters of identification, and also Paul Milne, Secretary of Irish Rare Birds Committee, for his assistance with several records. We are also grateful to The Natural History Museum, Tring for granting us access to skins & the library, and Dr Robert Prys-Jones, Mark Adams, Don Smith, Cyril Walker, Michael Walters and Effie Warr for facilitating our researches there. The following served as members of the Committee during the period covered by the report (expected year of retirement in brackets). 1997 marked the final year of service for John Marchant who retires under rotation. The Committee wishes to record its gratitude to John, particularly for his work with the ÔIntroduced Birds Working GroupÕ, and for his efforts in initiating a database of escapes. He will be replaced on Records Committee by Dr Roger Wilkinson, Curator of Birds at Chester Zoo.
British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee |
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