‘Siberian Chiffchaff’ in Britain

Published on 10 January 2008

The review of records of ‘Siberian Chiffchaff’ Phylloscopus collybita tristis during 2008 has established that this taxon (or at least birds that can be assigned to tristis/‘fulvescens’) occurs too frequently to be considered a BBRC rarity. BBRC is extremely grateful to those observers and recorders who cooperated with this review and submitted documentation to support their observations in 2008 (and some previous years).

The subcommittee who have assessed claims are still keen to receive further documentation for birds in 2008 even if observers believe the birds involved are closer to ‘fulvescens’ or ‘eastern abietinus’ types. Please send details to Alan Dean ([email protected]) who is undertaking secretarial duties for the subcommittee, by the end of June 2009 if possible, although outstanding reports of birds that were trapped (and for which full biometrics and photographs are available) or sound-recorded would still be welcome after that. It is intended that the results will be written up in due course and these additional reports will enhance the quality of that paper.