Changes to the British List (15 Jan 2024)
The British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee (BOURC) has made the following change to the British List.
Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni
New first record: one, second-calendar-year or older, early June 1868, Feltwell, Norfolk, specimen at Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery (Accession number NWNCM: 1949.171.4).
Photo (right): stock image by Derek Keats, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
As part of a review of early historical records of Collared Pratincoles G. praticola to be published in British Birds, a number of specimens located in public collections were examined. Scrutiny of the 1868 Feltwell bird at Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery revealed that it had the diagnostic black underwing of Black-winged Pratincole. The Feltwell bird was then judged against published BOURC criteria for historical records (Ibis 160: 936-942) and found to be acceptable as a new first British record of Black-winged Pratincole.
Black-winged Pratincole has a summer breeding range from south-east Europe to central Asia, and a non-breeding range in south and west Africa.
This decision will be published as part of the BOURC’s 57th report due to be published in Ibis in January 2025. The British List stands at 632 species (Category A = 614; Category B = 8; Category C = 10).