Bird clasification

[Beekeeper]

When any bird is a summer visitor here and then moves elsewhere over the winter months how would it be classified?

Would it be classed as a visitor or a British species, how can any species which frequently travels back and forth belong to any country in particuiar?

I suppose what i am trying to say is what denotes a purely British bird?

Ian

[david156]

Originally Posted by Beekeeper

When any bird is a summer visitor here and then moves elsewhere over the winter months how would it be classified?

Would it be classed as a visitor or a British species, how can any species which frequently travels back and forth belong to any country in particuiar?

I suppose what i am trying to say is what denotes a purely British bird?

Ian

Thats a bit of a grey area.
Both summer and winter visitors aswell as passage migrants are on the official British list published by the BOU (British Ornithologists' Union). So they can be classed as British species. Some people do think that a true british species is one that is resisdent while others think that species that breed in this country are british.
Other people count species and sub species so you would have half a dozen or more types of yellow wagtail, (Grey headed, blue Headed etc.. etc..)

Its really down to what you feel is correct.

Personally I use the BOU official british list as my basis for my sightings. If its on that list its british and tickable.

Cheers David

[aeshna5]

Yes a summer visitor is still a British bird. Remember also that many of our so called resident birds are infact different populations that may move around Europe- eg many Wood Pigeons, Robins, Blackbirds, Chaffinches, etc currently in our gardens may in fact just be wintering here from elsewhere on the continent.

To me any species which is regularly encountered in a wild state in the UK is a British bird. Rare vagrants that occur naturally, eg North American warblers will go on the British list if they are accepted by the rarities committee, but aren't strictly a British species, though will go on birders' lists if they connect with the species.

Some introduced species that have fully naturalised such as Little Owl, Pheasant, Canada + Egyptian Geese (former also occurs as vagrant) + Ring-necked Parakeets aren't part of our native avifauna but accepted on the British list. (I won't go into the different categories here).

[Beekeeper]

David and aeshna5, many thanks for replies, one thing i never envisaged is that pigeons migrate, always thought they were truly a British species, it is a confusing issue, one probably that will never resolved judging by your comments, this is why i asked the question as i could never figure out what belonged where.

Guess i never will now but will take your advice aeshna5 and go by the BOU as you are doing.

Thanks again

Ian

[RoyW]

You may be surprised how many of our common bird species are replaced with, or their numbers added to, with visitors from the continent during the winter. Relatively few species are truely resident, although some may not move far.
It's difficult to define what is a 'British' bird, I would probably include all of those that regularly breed or winter here, + perhaps some that stay for reasonably long periods on passage between breeding and wintering areas elsewhere. I wouldn't include vagrant species as British birds (although they are included on the BOU's list of 'birds that have occurred in a wild state in Britain') - to use a human analogy: someone who resides in Britain for a large part of the year is more likely to be British than a tourist that is only here because he is lost!
Remember that even birds that breed here do not necessarily spend the largest part of the year in Britain - most of our breeding Swifts will be in Britain for less than 4 months.