british species

[dunlin]

James m posted a thread on general wildlife regarding butterflies and it prompted me to ask.

Borders and country bounderies are set down by man but birds are free to travel as they see fit, and a lot frequently do migrate from country to country

So when does a bird that regularly travels to these shores become classed as a british species?
Am i also right in thinking only british species get protection under the law in this country from pursecution. Birds classed as released or escapees dont get the same level of protection

I think i heard on a program that eagle owls once native species are no longer concidered as such and therefore dont get the same level of protection as other native birds.

regards mark.....

[Adam Cheeseman]

Hi Mark, any bird existing in a wild state that has arrived here without the direct or obvious influence of Man is considered as British List species once it has been accepted by the British Ornithologists Union as meeting these criteria and obviously being correctly identified in the first place.
Some species that were deliberately released/introduced that hjave self-sustaining populations over a long period have been accpeted on to the British List as naturalised species, eg Pheasant, Ring-necked Parakeet, Little Owl.

All wild birds have a basic level of protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). Some rarer species obviously have greater protection, whilst it is permissable to shoot others at certain times of the year or under licence or both.

You might want to check out the BOU website for further details and also Naturenet, which has info on wildlife law.

Cheers,

Adam

[James Blake]

Hi Mark

I'm not clear about the legal aspects, but I can answer some of your questions.

There is a 'British List' maintained by the British Ornithologists' Union which includes all species proved to have turned up in this country without human intervention. This list also includes introduced species which are breeding successfully in enough numbers to be have become permanent additions to our fauna.

You can see the list here: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118619822/PDFSTART

In my opinion the British List is a bit odd, because it doesn't distinguish between birds which exist here in the millions and species which turn up here in ones or twos once every century or so. Some of these birds are surely more 'British' than others, though it would be impossible to draw a line between them.

It's unclear when eagle owls were last native to this country, but it may well have been many thousands of years ago.

cheers
James

[dunlin]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

Hi Mark, any bird existing in a wild state that has arrived here without the direct or obvious influence of Man is considered as British List species once it has been accepted by the British Ornithologists Union as meeting these criteria and obviously being correctly identified in the first place.
Some species that were deliberately released/introduced that hjave self-sustaining populations over a long period have been accpeted on to the British List as naturalised species, eg Pheasant, Ring-necked Parakeet, Little Owl.

All wild birds have a basic level of protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). Some rarer species obviously have greater protection, whilst it is permissable to shoot others at certain times of the year or under licence or both.

You might want to check out the BOU website for further details and also Naturenet, which has info on wildlife law.

Cheers,

Adam

Hi adam
How long does it take before the species is accepted as you say by the bou
Is it down to the number of annual records received? Does the impact the bird will have on native wildlife come into it?
Im thinking of the eagle owl. It breeds in northern europe and is only a short flight across the channel.
One of the yorkshire birds was found dead in shropshire after coming into contact with overhead electic cables, so they do travel some distance.

I know there are a lot of people who dont want to see the eagle owl back on these shores as they kill other birds of prey and quite rare ones at that. Im not one who holds that opinion. I think they are a magnificent creature.

ill check out the sites you mentioned
cheers mark....

[david156]

As at the begining of the year the british list was 587 species ( going up by at least two this year i think!) but this list of british birds includes a lot of oddities including Great Auk which is now extinct which is also 1 of 9 species not recorded since 1949. Also such raraties as the only european sighting of Golden Winged Warbler in kent in 1989 which was suspected to be ship assisted here. So if this was ship assisted should it count as a wild bird and how differant is this to an escaped bird? Then you have the uk400 british list that includes sub species so birds like yellow wagtail can become grey headed, black headed, blue headed and so on.....
Its all very confusing

[david156]

Originally Posted by dunlin

Hi adam
How long does it take before the species is accepted as you say by the bou
Is it down to the number of annual records received? Does the impact the bird will have on native wildlife come into it?

ill check out the sites you mentioned
cheers mark....

There's no set time.
Individual sigthing will be checked by the rarities commitee.This sighting was accepted in july this year!

"Asian Brown Flycatcher Muscicapa dauurica
First-summer, Fair Isle, Shetland, 1-2 July 1992"

Cheers David

[dunlin]

Originally Posted by James Blake

Hi Mark

I'm not clear about the legal aspects, but I can answer some of your questions.

There is a 'British List' maintained by the British Ornithologists' Union which includes all species proved to have turned up in this country without human intervention. This list also includes introduced species which are breeding successfully in enough numbers to be have become permanent additions to our fauna.

You can see the list here: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118619822/PDFSTART

In my opinion the British List is a bit odd, because it doesn't distinguish between birds which exist here in the millions and species which turn up here in ones or twos once every century or so. Some of these birds are surely more 'British' than others, though it would be impossible to draw a line between them.

It's unclear when eagle owls were last native to this country, but it may well have been many thousands of years ago.

cheers
James

Hi james
Ive tried opening the link but cant, im at work right now and only have limited access to the internet so will have a look when i get home.
My own view is all birds from europe and the western palearctic region that find them selves on these shores should receive the same level of protection as the red listed species. I should also add to that any wind blown birds from the states.
The only exception being gamebirds bred for shooting.
regards mark...

[James Blake]

My fault - here's a link that should work: British Ornithologists Union: BOURC Commitment