Constitution

British Birds Rarities Committee

Terms of Reference and Constitution

Revised December 2020

Download BBRC Constitution

  1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background & Function

1.2 Aims

1.3 Definitions

  1. COMPOSITION

2.1          Status and composition

2.1.1       Status

2.1.2       Composition

2.2 Voting Members

2.2.1       Role of Voting Members

2.2.2       Qualification & Geographical Spread of Voting Members

2.2.3       Selection of Voting Members

2.2.4       Period of office of Voting Members

2.2.5       Co-opting Voting Members

2.3 Chair

2.3.1       Role of Chair

2.3.2       Qualification of Chair

2.3.3       Selection & Appointment of Chair

2.3.4       Period of office of Chair

2.3.5       Appointing a Vice-chair

2.3.6       Temporary Chair

2.4 Secretary

2.4.1       Role of Secretary

2.4.2       Qualification of Secretary

2.4.3       Selection & Appointment of Secretary

2.4.4       Period of office of Secretary

2.5 Other Roles

2.5.1       Support provided to the Committee

2.5.2       Work for outside Organisations

  1. MEETINGS

3.1 The Annual General Meeting- AGM

3.1.1 Frequency

3.1.2 Introduction & Matters Covered

3.1.3 Those Attending

3.1.4 Voting procedures

3.1.5 Additional Sessions on Identification issues

3.2 Other Meetings

3.2.1 Identification Meetings

3.2.2 Electronic ‘Meetings’

  1. TAXA CONSIDERED BY BBRC

4.1 Introduction

4.1.1 Definition of a BBRC Rarity

4.1.2 Removal of a BBRC Rarity

4.1.3 Helping Counties

4.2 Taxa considered by BBRC

4.2.1 Introduction & Species considered

4.2.2 Sub-species considered

4.2.3 Indeterminate Species/ Sub-species pairs or groups

  1. THE ASSESSMENT OF RECORDS

5.1 Introduction

5.1.1 The Assessment Cycle

5.1.2 Approximate Time to complete an Assessment

5.2 Submission of Records

5.2.1       Introduction

5.2.2       Submission Forms & procedures

5.2.3       Held records

5.2.4       Liaison with County recorders

5.2.5       Confidentiality

5.3 Assessment Procedure

5.3.1 Introduction

5.3.2 Voting method

5.3.3 Voting Accept or Not Proven

5.4 The Voting Decision

5.4.1 Finalising the votes

5.4.2 Recirculation Procedure

5.4.3 Advising the outcome

5.5 Reconsideration of earlier records

5.5.1 Reviewing an individual record

5.5.2 Reviewing species

5.6 Withdrawal of Accepted records (or of a record In Circulation)

5.7 Records of Species new to Britain

5.8 Rarities of possibly captive origin

  1. PUBLICATIONS & ARCHIVE

6.1 Annual Report

6.2 Rarities Committee news and announcements

6.3 Published notes on First for Britain

6.4 From the Rarities Committee Files

6.5 The BBRC Archive

6.5.1 Location

6.5.2 Use of Records

  1. OTHER MATTERS

7.1 Improvements to the Constitution (public involvement with the Committee)

7.2 BBRC is not a ‘Court of Law’

7.3 Requests regarding non-BBRC Rarities

APPENDIX I: Definition of Sea Areas covered

APPENDIX II: Recording Area & Bird Observatories

APPENDIX III: Guidelines for Acceptance of a First for Britain

APPENDIX IV: Species & Sub-species pairs & groups

APPENDIX V: Reviews of Individual records & Series of records

Constitution written and prepared by Nigel Hudson, published here 2015. Revised and updated Dec 2020 by Paul French.