Surfbirds News

Brown Flycatcher © Josh Jones, from the surfbirds galleries

The following species, along with Bald Eagle as previously announced (Ibis 151: 224-230), are to be retained in Category D:

Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus

Four records: Norfolk, 1964; Essex, Kent, Humberside,1975; Kent, Essex, Yorkshire, Angus, Moray, 2006 and a second individual in Norfolk, Lancashire, Northumberland, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Denbighshire, Anglesey.

A review was prompted by records of two birds in 2006 and a recent paper on out-of-range pelicans in Europe (Ibis 150: 606-618).

The only record now retained in Category D is the bird observed at Hanningfield, Essex, and later at Fordwich, Kent, and the River Humber in July 1975.

Mugimaki Flycatcher Ficedula mugimaki

One record: Stone Creek, Humberside, on 16-17 November 1991.

Retain in Category D.

Unlike Brown Flycatcher, this species is known to have been in trade at the time of the occurrence. The Committee was unable to find compelling evidence of long-distance westwards vagrancy by this species.

There is some doubt about the provenance of the record from Treviso, Italy, on 29 October 1957, and the first non-controversial West Palearctic record involved an adult male seen near Neftekamsk, Russia, on 2 August 2007 (per M. Wilson).

Daurian Starling Agropsar sturninus

Two records: Fair Isle, Shetland, 7-28 May 1985; Durness, Highland, 24-27 September 1998.

Both records retained in Category D.

The two accepted Western Palearctic records (from Norway and the Netherlands) have both involved first-winter birds in autumn. This species is regularly found in trade, and there were concerns about the relatively early spring date of the Fair Isle record and the age (probably adult) of the Durness bird.

Red-headed Bunting Emberiza bruniceps

Formerly on the British List, this species was removed in 1968 on the basis that all records could have involved birds originating from trade.

There has still not been an acceptable record of an autumn first-winter bird, and this species was still in trade immediately prior to the record from Monreith, Dumfries & Galloway, 8-9 June 2004. Red-headed Bunting is reportedly still in trade in the USA, but any British occurrence which presents little overt reason to suspect captive origin following the complete ban on the importation of wild-caught birds into the EU (effective from 1 July 2007) will be looked at very seriously.