These species don’t fall within the criteria for national rarities but are still rare enough at a county level to require verification before being accepted into the county database
These species don’t fall within the criteria for national rarities but are still rare enough at a county level to require verification before being accepted into the county database
The full list of County rarities can be found below. All species will appear in bold blue on the daily sightings page. Please send all descriptions, photos and/or known observers’ names to recorder@cbwps.org.uk. County rarities are divided into two categories as follows:
Category A – Species requiring a full description and/or a series of clear and diagnostic photos for acceptance into the county record:
| Black Brant | Bonaparte’s Gull | Wood Warbler |
| Snow Goose | Ring-billed Gull | Radde’s Warbler |
| Taiga Bean Goose | Caspian Gull | Greenish Warbler |
| Tundra Bean Goose | Kumlien’s Gull | Arctic Warbler |
| Bewick’s Swan | White-billed Diver | Blyth’s Reed Warbler |
| American Wigeon | Night Heron | Marsh Warbler |
| Red-crested Pochard | Honey-buzzard | Icterine Warbler |
| Surf Scoter | Golden Eagle | Lesser Whitethroat (‘Eastern races’) |
| Smew | Montagu’s Harrier | Nightingale |
| Ruddy Duck | Black Kite | Bluethroat (Red-spotted) |
| Black Grouse | White-tailed Eagle | Red-flanked Bluetail |
| Alpine Swift | Rough-legged Buzzard | Tree Sparrow |
| Corncrake | Little Owl | Yellow Wagtail (not flavissima) |
| Spotted Crake | Long-eared Owl | Citrine Wagtail |
| Stone Curlew | Lesser Spotted Woodpecker | Pied Wagtail (alba) (from Dec-Feb) |
| Red-necked Phalarope | Red-footed Falcon | Olive-backed Pipit |
| Lesser Yellowlegs | Great Grey Shrike | Common Rosefinch |
| Temminck’s Stint | Penduline Tit | Twite |
| White-rumped Sandpiper | Bearded Tit | Redpoll (not A. f. cabaret) |
| White-winged Black Tern | Shore Lark | Ortolan Bunting |
| Roseate Tern | Short-toed Lark | Plus any unusual subspecies/ races |
Category B – Species that do not always require a full description, if the bird in question has been seen and confirmed by three experienced observers who are known to the Rarities Committee. These names should be included when details of sightings are submitted. A full description may still be asked for at the county recorder’s discretion, for example an out-of-season record.
| Pink-footed Goose | Black Guillemot | Willow Tit (outside core area) |
| White-fronted Goose | Little Auk | Red-rumped Swallow |
| Ruddy Shelduck | White Stork | Pallas’s Warbler |
| Green-winged Teal | Cormorant (sinensis) | Dusky Warbler |
| Ring-necked Duck | Glossy Ibis | Melodious Warbler |
| Grey Partridge (outside core area) | Purple Heron | Barred Warbler |
| Quail | Bee-eater | Rose-coloured Starling |
| Common Crane | Ring-necked Parakeet | Red-breasted Flycatcher |
| Black-winged Stilt | Golden Oriole | Scandinavian Rock Pipit (littoralis) |
| American Golden Plover | Woodchat Shrike | Hawfinch |
| Dotterel | Red-backed Shrike | Serin |
| Buff-breasted Sandpiper | Hooded Crow | Cirl Bunting (outside core area) |
| Pectoral Sandpiper | Waxwing | Little Bunting |
| Plus any unusual subspecies/ races |
National Rarities – Any species nationally rarer than those listed above must be verified by the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) before they can be included in county totals. Such species appear in bold red on the daily sightings page. The submission page on the BBRC website is here. Please send all records ready to be submitted to the county recorder (recorder@cbwps.org.uk), where they will be forwarded onto the BBRC.
Notes –
(1) This list has been adjusted significantly as of early 2022, and supersedes any previous categorisation.
(2) Any species not covered by the list above may still require a description at the county recorder’s discretion. Such situations are unusual, but, as examples, can be required for out-of-season records or very high counts of otherwise commoner species.
(3) Any County Rarities suspected of breeding should be sent to the county recorder (recorder@cbwps.org.uk) in confidence, and also submitted to the Rare Birds Breeding Panel (RBBP) if applicable. Such records will not appear on the website under Recent Sightings, but are important for the county database.
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