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Welcome to the Isles of Scilly Rare Birds web site.
The species order follows the IOC World Bird List (v14.2) and on each species page it is headed with the family, followed by the English name and scientic name of the species. Those species with tri-nominals are sub-species. These titles have parentheses with two numbers enclosed, the first denotes the number of birds recorded to the end of 1949, with the second number the total number of birds recorded from the start of 1950.
Underneath is the Isles of Scilly Status of the species and the current body where the records have to be submitted to.
BBRC or SRC (Scilly Records Committee) species require a description as do sub-species that also require notes as appropriate to determine identification.
Only records accepted by these relative bodies are published here with their relevant references attached, of which full details can be viewed under the References header.
Status definitions:
Extremely rare: five or fewer occurrences since Jan 1, 1950.
Very rare: six to twenty occurrences since Jan 1, 1950.
Rare: more than wenty occurrences since Jan 1, 1950, though not annual.
Scarce: normally annual since Jan 1, 1950 with 11 to 100 per year.
The number of species seen on the Isles of Scilly to the end of 2020 is now 452, with many firsts for Britain as follows: Bufflehead (1920), Common Nighthawk (1927), Black-billed Cuckoo (1927), Purple Gallinule (1958), Semipalmated Plover (1978), Western Sandpiper (1969), Wilson's Snipe (1998), Greater Yellowlegs (1906), Red-billed Tropicbird (2001), Band-rumped Storm Petrel (2007), Fea's/Desertas Petrel (2001), Scopoli's Shearwater (2004), Great Blue Heron (2007), Short-toed Snake Eagle (1999), Northern Goshawk (1969), Northern Harrier (1982), Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (1921), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1975), Red-eyed Vireo (1962), Philadelphia Vireo (1987), Horned Lark (2001), Tree Swallow (1990), American Cliff Swallow (1983), Eastern Bonelli's Warbler (1987), Green Warbler (1983), Two-barred Warbler (1987), Pale-legged Leaf Warbler (2016), Eastern Orphean Warbler (2017), Wood Thrush (1987), Bobolink (1962), Northern Waterthrush (1958), Hooded Warbler (1970), Northern Parula (1966), Magnolia Warbler (1981), Blackpoll Warbler (1968), Scarlet Tanager (1970) and Rose-breasted Grosbeak (1966).
Regarding the records prior to the formation of BBRC (1958) you can view the history of each record from the mid 18th century to 1957 by visiting my other site