6.1 Annual Report
Accepted and Not Proven records are published in the Committee’s annual “Report on Rare Birds in Great Britain” in British Birds. This report is usually published in October following the year under review. Publication of all rarity records in one journal greatly facilitates analyses of their occurrences in the region covered.
For every accepted record details are given that include county and location, full dates, number of birds and their age/sex if known, observer names and the information that was available (such as photo or DNA analysis). For each taxa, statistics are given for both historical (pre-1950) and BBRC-era (post 1950) records, along with a short comment on the current trend of occurrences for that taxa. Also, each year a more detailed ‘species comment’ is given for about 50 taxa.
6.2 Rarities Committee news and announcements
A second publication ‘Rarities Committee news and announcements’ appears regularly in British Birds and covers general matters relating to the Committee’s work, much of which stem from discussions at its AGM (see Section 3.1) The Committee, via the Chair and Secretary, also issues press releases and announcements to birding information services, about its work.
6.3 Published notes on First for Britain
Full details of first records of species for Britain are published in British Birds. Observers are asked to prepare suitable notes for publication, but in the rare cases where these are not forthcoming, a Committee member or British Birds editorial board member may prepare one from the submitted details. Such notes provide a valuable identification reference for species whose field characters may be little known.
6.4 From the Rarities Committee Files
Having a central repository of rarity descriptions and their assessment, including opinions on difficult records, can be an asset when looking at identification issues. An important offshoot of the Committee’s work is the promotion and publication of notes and papers to clarify these areas. Some may take the form of an analysis of a species’ characteristics whilst others may be about an individual record. Some particularly good descriptions of especially rare or hard-to-identify species may be published as a standard to which others may aspire.
All publications are under the title “From the Rarities Committee Files” and acknowledge the Committee’s sponsorship.
6.5 The BBRC Archive
6.5.1 Location
The paper archive of submitted descriptions has now been entirely digitised and is contained in Microsoft Excel format. This is retained by the Secretary and Chair.
6.5.2 Use of Records
Descriptions of rarities in the Committee’s files are available to any bona-fide researcher or organisation. Requests for their use should be sent to the Secretary with a brief outline of the purpose, objectives and expected outputs from the use of the descriptions. The Chair and Secretary will consider all requests on their individual merits. The Committee reserves the right to levy a charge for the use of descriptions in certain cases.
