Whats the rarest bird thats ever turned up in Britain?

[Little Birder]

I was wondering, what is the rarest wild bird (Not Escapee) that has ever been seen in Britain? It would help if the bird was confirmed and definately not tagged or ringed. I know thre were rumours and speculation about a Slender-Billed Curlew in RSPB Minsmere but it was never confirmed. Any ideas?

[Little Birder]

By the way, Im looking for the rarest bird in the UK, not the rarest bird in the UK that you have sighted (Because thats what the thread before is about!)

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by Little Birder

I was wondering, what is the rarest wild bird (Not Escapee) that has ever been seen in Britain? It would help if the bird was confirmed and definately not tagged or ringed. I know thre were rumours and speculation about a Slender-Billed Curlew in RSPB Minsmere but it was never confirmed. Any ideas?

That was a dodgy looking Eurasian Curlew. There was one at Druridge Bay though.

Cheers,

Adam

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

That was a dodgy looking Eurasian Curlew. There was one at Druridge Bay though.

Cheers,

Adam

Guess that's pretty rare as it's generally considered it's likely to be extinct now!

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by aeshna5

Guess that's pretty rare as it's generally considered it's likely to be extinct now!

Sadly so! Don't know where Great Auk stands as that's been extinct for 167 years.

Cheers,

Adam

[Littlesparrow]

There was a Green Heron around last year, and there haven't been many of those recorded over the years.and I've been told by an artist friend who was carving one that there has been a Blue throat seen this year, I had never even hear of it before.

[RoyW]

The Minsmere curlew was proven to be a Eurasion Curlew by DNA analysis (I can't remember if it was droppings or a shed feather that were used!).
Slender-billed Curlew is officially on the British list though based on an individual in Northumberand in May 1998 (although the record is currently under review), which is one of the last officially accepted records of this species anywhere in the world.

The next rarest is probably Sociable Lapwing/Plover, which is considered critically endangered and was thought to have a world population numbering only a few hundred pairs until some large flocks were discovered in 2006. The population is now estimated at up to 5600 pairs.

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

Sadly so! Don't know where Great Auk stands as that's been extinct for 167 years.

Also, Eskimo Curlew, a few old records from the UK but not reliably reported anywhere in the world in recent years so generally considered extinct.

[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.

There are a number of birds that have arrived here as vagrants and which have only been recorded once in Britain - off-hand a couple I can think of are Philadelphia Vireo (Scilly 1987) and Yellow-throated Vireo (Cornwall, 1990) neither of which (as far as my ageing memory can recall) have been seen here since. But there are a number of others which I'm sure someone else will recall - ooh yes, Ancient Murrelet (Lundy 1991), Red-breasted Nuthatch (Norfolk 1989), Long-billed Murrelet (Dawlish 2006) ....

[fairplay]

I was the volunteer warden at Landguard Point, Felixstowe, Suffolk when in 1980 or 81 we had an American Lark Sparrow arrive - or rather, spotted on the reserve, but this was deemed to have had 'an assisted passage' by probably hitching a lift on one of the large ships that come into Felixstowe docks.

That was the first time I had heard of the word 'Twitcher' - we had hundreds of them arrive and a lot simply thrust money in my hands (because the Suffolk Wildlife Trust never charged any entry fee so the SWT made quite a few quid that day !)

Neil.