British Birds Rarities Committee

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Current Rare Species

The table below gives the species that are currently assessed by BBRC giving:
Their English name
Their full Scientific name,
Whether they are a sub-species
Number of occurrences up to 1950 (i.e. before BBRC started assessment)
Number of occurrences from 1950 to 2006 inclusive
BOU Category

In some instances the Category is not given as these are new species that have not yet been officially admitted to the British List by BOU.
Some Category D & E species are included as the BBRC is interested in monitoring their occurrence to see if there is a case for ‘elevation’ to Category A, B or C.
Do remember that some of these statistics will be altered by recent decisions and by species that are currently being looked at by BOURC

To download this page as an Excel file please [click here] Note the file contains a sheet for the current species and also a sheet of species which have been removed and ng the year of their removal. Old records prior to that year STILL need to come to BBRC.

Many of you have asked for a quick check of recently removed species so here is a list of those removed since 2006.

Common Name	Scientific Name		Year Removed
Ferruginous Duck	Aythya nyroca		ex-BBRC 2006
Wilson’s Storm-petrel	Oceanites oceanicus		ex-BBRC 2006
Great White Egret	Ardea alba		ex-BBRC 2006
Black Kite	Milvus migrans		ex-BBRC 2006
Red-footed Falcon	Falco vespertinus		ex-BBRC 2006
American Golden Plover	Pluvialis dominica		ex-BBRC 2006
White-rumped Sandpiper	Calidris fuscicollis		ex-BBRC 2006
White-winged Black Tern	Chlidonias leucopterus		ex-BBRC 2006
Alpine Swift	Apus melba		ex-BBRC 2006
Red-rumped Swallow	Cecropis daurica		ex-BBRC 2006
Red-throated Pipit	Anthus cervinus		ex-BBRC 2006
Subalpine Warbler	Sylvia cantillans		ex-BBRC 2006
Western Greenish Warbler	Phylloscopus trichiloides viridanus	sub-species	ex-BBRC 2006
Radde’s Warbler	Phylloscopus schwarzi		ex-BBRC 2006
Dusky Warbler	Phylloscopus fuscatus		ex-BBRC 2006
Coues’ Redpoll	Carduelis hornemanni exilipes	sub-species	ex-BBRC 2006
Rustic Bunting	Emberiza rustica		ex-BBRC 2006
White-billed Diver	Gavia adamsii		ex-BBRC 2009
Cattle Egret	Bubulcus ibis		ex-BBRC 2009
Parrot Crossbill	Loxia pytyopsittacus		ex-BBRC 2009

Note with the two sub-species, then the nominate and other sub-species of that genus ARE STILL BBRC.

Current BBRC species are given below. The reason Greater Canada Goose is given, is that instances of thought to be true vagrants are now required. This would either be via a ringed bird, or documentation that points to a sub-species other than nominate B. c. canadensis.

Common Name	Scientific Name		upto end 1949	1950-2006	Cat
Whistling Swan	Cygnus columbianus columbianus	sub-species	0	0
Lesser White-fronted Goose	Anser erythropus		9	122	AE*
Ross's Goose	Anser rossii		0	9	DE
Greater Canada Goose	Branta canadensis		0	1	C2E*
Lesser Canada Goose	Branta hutchinsii		0	0
Red-breasted Goose	Branta ruficollis		9	64	AE
Wood Duck	Aix sponsa		0	0	E
Falcated Duck	Anas falcata		0	21	DE
Baikal Teal	Anas formosa		0	6	DE
Black Duck	Anas rubripes		0	31	A
Blue-winged Teal	Anas discors		10	223	AE
Marbled Duck	Marmaronetta angustirostris		0	19	DE
Canvasback	Aythya valisineria		0	7	AE
Redhead	Aythya americana		0	4	AE
Lesser Scaup	Aythya affinis		0	102	A
Northern Common Eider	Somateria mollissima borealis	sub-species	0	1
King Eider	Somateria spectabilis		68	130	A
Steller's Eider	Polysticta stelleri		5	10	A
Harlequin Duck	Histrionicus histrionicus		6	10	A
Black Scoter	Melanitta americana		0	7	A
Bufflehead	Bucephala albeola		1	11	A
Barrow's Goldeneye	Bucephala islandica		0	3	AE
Hooded Merganser	Lophodytes cucullatus		0	3	ADE
White-headed Duck	Oxyura leucocephala		0	20	DE
Pacific Diver	Gavia pacifica		0	0
Pied-billed Grebe	Podilymbus podiceps		0	37	A
Black-browed Albatross	Thalassarche melanophris		1	22	A
Yellow-nosed Albatross	Thalassarche chlororhynchos		0	0
Non-specific Albatross	Thalassarche sp	non-specific	1	10
Fea's Petrel	Pterodroma feae		0	3	A
Fea's/Zino's Petrel	Pterodroma feae/madeira	non-specific	0	31
Black-capped Petrel	Pterodroma hasitata		1	1	A
Bulwer's Petrel	Bulweria bulwerii		2	1
Scopoli's Shearwater	Calonectris diomedia diomedea	sub-species	0	0
Yelkouan Shearwater	Puffinus yelkouan		0	0
North Atlantic Little Shearwater	Puffinus baroli		3	58	A
Audubon's Shearwater	Puffinus lherminieri		0	0
White-faced Storm-petrel	Pelagodroma marina		1	0	B
Swinhoe's Storm-petrel	Oceanodroma monorhis		0	4	A
Madeiran Storm-petrel	Oceanodroma castro		1	0
Red-billed Tropicbird	Phaethon aethereus		0	4	AE
Masked Booby	Sula dactylatra		0	0
Brown Booby	Sula leucogaster		0	0
Double-crested Cormorant	Phalacrocorax auritus		0	1	A
White Pelican	Pelecanus onocrotalus		0	15	DE
Ascension Frigatebird	Fregata aquila		0	1	A
Magnificent Frigatebird	Fregata magnificens		0	2	A
Non-sp Frigatebird	Fregata sp.	non-specific	0	2
American Bittern	Botaurus lentiginosus		32	7	A
Little Bittern	Ixobrychus minutus		250	219	A
Green-backed Heron	Butorides virescens		1	4	A
Squacco Heron	Ardeola ralloides		69	62	A
Snowy Egret	Egretta thula		0	1	A
Great Blue Heron	Ardea herodias		0	0	A
Black Stork	Ciconia nigra		22	140	AE
Glossy Ibis	Plegadis falcinellus		0	92	AE
Greater Flamingo	Phoenicopterus roseus		0	10	DE
Black-eared Kite	Milvus milvus lineatus	sub-species	0	0
Bald Eagle	Haliaeetus leucocephalus		0	1	DE
Egyptian Vulture	Neophron percnopterus		2	0	BE
Griffon Vulture	Gyps fulvus		2	0
Eurasian Black Vulture	Aegypius monachus		0	1	D
Short-toed Eagle	Circaetus gallicus		0	1	A
Northern Harrier	Circus cyaneus hudsonius	sub-species	0	1
Pallid Harrier	Circus macrourus		2	22	A
American Goshawk	Accipiter gentilis atricapillus	sub-species	0	0
Steppe Buzzard	Buteo buteo vulpinus	sub-species	0	0
Long-legged Buzzard	Buteo rufinus		0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	Buteo lineatus		0	0
Spotted Eagle	Aquila clanga		12	0	B
Lesser Spotted Eagle	Aquila pomarina		0	0
Booted Eagle	Aquila pennata		0	6	D
Lesser Kestrel	Falco naumanni		10	7	A
American Kestrel	Falco sparverius		0	2	AE
Amur Falcon	Falco amurensis		0	0
Eleonora's Falcon	Falco eleonorae		0	5	A
Saker Falcon	Falco cherrug		0	1	DE
Gyr Falcon	Falco rusticolus		0	153	AE
Sora	Porzana carolina		6	11	A
Little Crake	Porzana parva		69	36	A
Baillon's Crake	Porzana pusilla		65	15	A
Allen's Gallinule	Porphyrio alleni		1	1	A
American Purple Gallinule	Porphyrio martinica		0	1	A
American Coot	Fulica americana		0	6	A
Sandhill Crane	Grus canadensis		0	2	A
Little Bustard	Tetrax tetrax		0	24	A
Macqueen's Bustard	Chlamydotis macqueenii		4	1	A
Great Bustard	Otis tarda		84	20	A
Black-winged Stilt	Himantopus himantopus		134	241	A
Cream-coloured Courser	Cursorius cursor		37	7	A
Collared Pratincole	Glareola pratincola		32	64	A
Oriental Pratincole	Glareola maldivarum		0	5	A
Black-winged Pratincole	Glareola nordmanni		2	32	A
Semipalmated Plover	Charadrius semipalmatus		0	2	A
Killdeer	Charadrius vociferus		4	45	A
Lesser Sand Plover	Charadrius mongolus		0	4	A
Greater Sand Plover	Charadrius leschenaultii		0	14	A
Caspian Plover	Charadrius asiaticus		2	3	A
Pacific Golden Plover	Pluvialis fulva		2	60	A
Sociable Lapwing	Vanellus gregarius		3	38	A
White-tailed Lapwing	Vanellus leucurus		0	4	A
Great Knot	Calidris tenuirostris		0	3	A
Semipalmated Sandpiper	Calidris pusilla		0	82	A
Western Sandpiper	Calidris mauri		0	7	A
Red-necked Stint	Calidris ruficollis		0	6	A
Long-toed Stint	Calidris subminuta		0	2	A
Least Sandpiper	Calidris minutilla		4	28	A
Baird's Sandpiper	Calidris bairdii		1	199	A
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper	Calidris acuminata		4	22	A
Stilt Sandpiper	Calidris himantopus		0	24	A
Hudsonian Dunlin	Calidris alpina hudsonia	sub-species	0	0
Broad-billed Sandpiper	Limicola falcinellus		15	206	A
Wilson's Snipe	Gallinago delicata		0	1	A
Great Snipe	Gallinago media		0	150	A
Short-billed Dowitcher	Limnodromus griseus		0	1	A
Long-billed Dowitcher	Limnodromus scolopaceus		6	179	A
Hudsonian Godwit	Limosa haemastica		0	2	A
Little Curlew	Numenius minutus		0	2	A
Eskimo Curlew	Numenius borealis		6	0	B
Hudsonian Whimbrel	Numenius phaeopus hudsonicus	sub-species	0	3
Slender-billed Curlew	Numenius tenuirostris		0	1	A
Upland Sandpiper	Bartramia longicauda		9	34	A
Terek Sandpiper	Xenus cinereus		0	66	A
Spotted Sandpiper	Actitis macularius		5	136	A
Solitary Sandpiper	Tringa solitaria		5	25	A
Grey-tailed Tattler	Tringa brevipes		0	2	A
Greater Yellowlegs	Tringa melanoleuca		6	19	A
Lesser Yellowlegs	Tringa flavipes		19	256	A
Marsh Sandpiper	Tringa stagnatilis		6	122	A
Wilson's Phalarope	Phalaropus tricolor		0	216	A
Brown Skua	Stercorarius antarctica		0	0
South Polar Skua	Stercorarius maccormicki		0	0
Ivory Gull	Pagophila eburnea		84	51	A
Slender-billed Gull	Chroicocephalus genei		0	9	A
Bonaparte's Gull	Chroicocephalus philadelphia		8	141	A
Ross's Gull	Rhodostethia rosea		1	88	A
Laughing Gull	Larus atricilla		1	173	A
Franklin's Gull	Larus pipixcan		0	53	A
Audouin's Gull	Larus audouinii		0	2	A
Great Black-headed Gull	Larus ichthyaetus		1	0	B
Baltic Gull	Larus fuscus fuscus	sub-species	0	1
American Herring Gull	Larus smithsonianus		0	14	A
Thayer's Gull	Larus glaucoides thayeri	sub-species	0	0
Glaucous-winged Gull	Larus glaucescens		0	0
Aleutian Tern	Onychoprion aleuticus		0	1	A
Sooty Tern	Onychoprion fuscatus		13	11	A
Bridled Tern	Onychoprion anaethetus		1	21	A
Least Tern	Sterna albifrons antillarum/athalossos/browni	sub-species	0	1
Gull-billed Tern	Gelochelidon nilotica		51	268	A
Caspian Tern	Hydroprogne caspia		26	254	A
Whiskered Tern	Chlidonias hybrida		23	129	A
American Black Tern	Chlidonias niger surinamensis	sub-species	0	0