06 July 2005

A Press Release from the

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION RECORDS COMMITTEE
and


BRITISH BIRDS RARITIES COMMITTEE


Taiga Flycatcher (Ficedula albicilla)
First-summer male

Flamborough Head, East Yorkshire



26-29 April 2003




Admitted to Category A of the British List


The British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC) has
admitted Taiga
Flycatcher (Ficedula albicilla)to Category A of the British List
following the
occurrence of an adult male at Flamborough Head, East Yorkshire on
23-29 April
2003 (sight record, trapped, photographed).



Taiga Flycatcher breeds across the high north Palearctic region east
of c. 50oE
(east European Russia) from the Ural Mountains eastwards to eastern
Siberia. Its
breeding range overlaps that of Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula
parva) between
50oE and 60oE. Taiga Flycatcher winters in south-east Asia (southern
Nepal,
eastern India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, south-east China).



There have been only two previously accepted extralimital Western
Palearctic
records - a first-winter trapped on 26 October 1998 on Öland, Sweden
and another
first-winter trapped on 16 September 2002 at Klydesøreservatet,
Amager, Denmark
(Birding World 16: 153-155).



Taiga Flycatcher is treated as monotypic having recently been split
from
Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ibis 146: 153-157).



Eric Meek, Chairman of BOURC commented "With the two previous
Western Palearctic
records having been of young birds in autumn, the expectation was
that the first
for Britain would follow suit. That it turned out to be a spring
male was a real
bonus for all who saw this immaculate bird. Siberian vagrants are
appearing in
spring with increasing regularity and fears have been expressed in
the past that
this may be resulting from increasing numbers of escapes from
captivity.
However, our advice was that this is most unlikely to be the case
with Taiga
Flycatcher. It was interesting, however, that despite initial
appearances, the
bird could be aged as a first-summer based on the pale edgings to
the greater
coverts and tertials and it is tempting to speculate that this was a
bird that
was displaced westwards in the previous autumn and survived the
winter on this
side of the Eurasian landmass. Whatever its exact route to
Flamborough, BOURC
members were unanimous in their belief that this was a genuine
vagrant and that
it should be admitted to category A of the British List."



The British List now stands at 569 species

(Category A = 547; Category B = 12; Category C = 10).


Chris