Whats the rarest bird thats ever turned up in Britain?

[davecatt]

Can anyone suggest a reliable reference source that can answer the OP's question "What is the rarest wild bird that has ever been seen in Britain"?

I've tried googling it but failed to come up with an answer.

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by solus

It sort of depends if you're talking about a bird that is rare because there are very few of that particular species in the World or rare in British terms because there have only been one of that species recorded here as a vagrant - although they may be common in their normal ranges.

Originally Posted by davecatt

Can anyone suggest a reliable reference source that can answer the OP's question "What is the rarest wild bird that has ever been seen in Britain"?

I've tried googling it but failed to come up with an answer.

WIthout clarification about exactly what is meant by the OP's question (see the quote from solus), it is not possible to give any reference sources which will answer the question.
The rarest species in terms of world population/conservation status have already been given and can be viewed on the Birdlife International website(Great Auk = Extinct, Eskimo Curlew = Critically Endangered/Possibly extinct, Slender-billed Curlew = Critical endangered, estimated at fewer than 50 individuals, perhaps extinct, Sociable Lapwing = Critically endangered, population estimated at c5600 pairs). I don't think that any rarer species have been overlooked.

If the OP wants to know the species with the fewest records in Britain, I don't know of any websites that have this information available for free, but in would be easy for me to find and post details of which species have only been recorded once in the UK, with exact details of when and where they were recorded (It would also be necessary to know whether Ireland is to be included or not).
In additiona to those mentioned already, species which have only been included once in Britain include, Snowy Egret, Cape May Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Wilsons Warbler, Rock Sparrow, White-faced Storm Petrel, Ascension Frigatebird, Summer Tanager, Eastern Towhee, Varied Thrush, Red-throated Thrush, Olive-tree Warbler, Mousiers Redstart, Rufous-tailed Robin, Lesser Short-toed Lark, Brown Thrasher, Long-tailed Shrike, ALeution Tern and Red-necked Nightjar (+ a few recent ones that haven't yet been published as accepted).

[Little Birder]

I mean, what is the rarest bird (That has the lowest population anywhere in the world) that has been confirmed to of been in Britain. Even if there's only one record of it in Britain. I dont mean rarest bird that can be seen in Britain, just the bird with the lowest worldwide population that has ever visited Britain.

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by Little Birder

I mean, what is the rarest bird (That has the lowest population anywhere in the world) that has been confirmed to of been in Britain. Even if there's only one record of it in Britain. I dont mean rarest bird that can be seen in Britain, just the bird with the lowest worldwide population that has ever visited Britain.

In which case the question has already been answered - but does depend on whether extinct birds count (you can't get a much lower world population than that), and may also be affected by whether the Nortumberland Slender-billed Curlew (Druridge Pools, first-summer, probably female, 4th to 7th May 1998) is still considered acceptable after review.