Welcome to the Rare Birds in Northumberland web site.
The species order follows the AviList (2025) and on each species page it is headed with the family, followed by the English name and scientific 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 Northumberland Status of the species and the current body where the records have to be submitted to. All BBRC and some ex BBRC species are Schedule A and require a full description.
Schedule B species require a brief 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: species whose total is less than 9 individuals
Rare: no more than nine individuals per annum
Uncommon: 10-99 individuals per annum.
Northumberland List to the end of 2025 is now 425, with many firsts for Britain as follows: Lesser White-fronted Goose (1886), Red-necked Nightjar (1856), Great Spotted Cuckoo (1870), Grey-headed Lapwing (2023), Aleutian Tern (1979), White-billed Diver (1829), Swinhoe's Storm Petrel (1989), Black Kite (1866), Tengmalm's Owl (1812), Northern Long-tailed Tit (ssp. caudatus) (1852) and Yellow-browed Warbler (1838).
Species counted by NTBC but not accepted by BBRC/BOURC include: Lesser Kestrel, Eleonora's Falcon, Isabelline (Daurian) Shrike, Asian Brown Flycatcher.
Pending species new to Northumberland are: Green Warbler and Indian Golden Oriole.
Notable subspecies: American Black Tern, Baltic Gull, Kumlien's Gull, Northern Long-tailed Tit, Northern Treecreeper.
Species groups (unidentified to species level and not on the list) are: Isabelline/Red-tailed Shrike, Fea's/Zino's/Desertas Petrel, Moltoni's/Subalpine Warbler, Southern Giant/Northern Giant Petrel. Note: The two seabird species are counted by NTBC in their list.
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