British Birds

April 2017 Vol.110 189 248

The Sacred Ibis in Europe

Dark-breasted Barn Owl breeding in
Cheshire & Wirral
Common Buzzards on Fuerteventura
British Birds Volume 110

Willow Tits in post-industrial landscapes

 British Birds
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Front-cover photograph: Rooks Corvus frugilegus, Oundle, Northamptonshire, April 2016.

Richard Chandler
 British Birds
Volume 110 Number 4 April 2017

190 BB eye Martin Harper

192 News and comment Adrian Pitches
197 The Sacred Ibis in Europe: ecology and management
Pierre Ysou, Philippe Clergeau, Suzanne Bastian, Sbastien Reeber
and Jean-Franois Maillard

213 Dark-breasted Barn Owl breeding in Cheshire & Wirral in 2014

Steve Binney and Peter Coffey
222 Phenotypic characteristics of Common Buzzards on Fuerteventura
Guillermo Rodrguez, Juan Ramrez and Javier Elorriaga
233 Thriving Willow Tits in a post-industrial landscape
Geoff Carr and Jeff Lunn
221, 244 Letters
241 Obituaries: Eric Meek, Frank Gribble 244 Recent reports
246 Rarities Committee news

Mark Averys editorial in the February issue of BB generated a degree of

comment from those who do not share his vision for the uplands (see p.
244). While the vast majority of BB readers probably every single one, in
fact condemn the raptor persecution aspects of modern moorland
management, not everyone accepts Marks strategy as the best way
forward. Since one of the original purposes of BB eye was to present a
particular view about a particular issue, we wanted to allow other sides of
the debate, and this month Martin Harper gives the RSPBs viewpoint on
the uplands and the future of driven grouse shooting.
Negotiating with landowners and others to bring about a good, or at
least an acceptable, outcome for wildlife is not always easy, and sometimes
immensely challenging, but Eric Meek was one of the few conservationists
in Britain who could claim that he was burnt in effigy (p. 241). The fact that by the time he retired he
was so widely respected in Orkney speaks volumes for his skills in his day job with the RSPB. Scottish
ornithology in general was shocked to learn of Erics death in February this year and he will be an
enormous loss. He was a great support to me as a director of the Fair Isle Bird Observatory Trust,
taking over from me as chairman in 2014, so I am deeply saddened to contemplate his obituary in
these pages. Natural history in Britain has lost one of its stars.

Roger Riddington

British Birds aims to: v provide an up-to-date magazine for everyone interested in the birds
of the Western Palearctic; v publish a range of material on behaviour, conservation, distribution,
ecology, identification, movements, status and taxonomy as well as the latest ornithological news
and book reviews; v maintain its position as the journal of record; and
v interpret scientific research on birds in an easily accessible way.

British Birds 2017

BB eye
Why it is in the driven grouse industrys interest to clean up its
own act
I believe that the future of the driven grouse
shooting industry rests in its own hands. It
either reforms, to improve the environmental
conditions of the uplands, or public distrust
and anger will grow, leading inevitably to
government intervention to regulate its activ-
ities. Let me explain.
Driven grouse shooting is a form of
hunting that has shaped our landscapes over
the past two centuries, leading to profound
changes in vegetation cover and creating the
mix of wildlife we find on many of our hills
and moors today. During the nineteenth
century, highly organised and professionalised
management of heather moorland developed
to produce high numbers of Red Grouse
Lagopus lagopus for shooting. Sadly, the days
of big bag shooting were the nadir for species
like the Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus, which was
driven out of mainland Britain.
While there were great changes during the
twentieth century, the Victorian extirpation of
so many of our top predators continues to
influence attitudes (so much so that some still
refer to predators as vermin) and sets a dark
context to the debate about the future of
driven grouse shooting. Land-use choices that
have given primacy to creating a shootable
surplus of Red Grouse have come at a cost for
other species. For decades after the Second
World War, the prevailing orthodoxy was that
the future for upland wildlife depended on a
balance between intensive sheep grazing,
blanket afforestation with non-native conifer
crops and management for grouse. The net
benefit appeared to lie with grouse-moor
management at sufficiently low intensity to
allow it to rub along constructively with con-
servation management, for example bene-
fiting wading birds. There was always the
intractable issue of illegal raptor killing but, at
a habitat scale, the RSPB felt it could do busi-
ness with grouse-moor managers.
So what changed?
In the early years of the twenty-first century,
a new approach to managing grouse moors
190
emerged: intensification of the rate of
heather burning, the use of medicated grit
and a zero tolerance of predators. A renais-
sance of the Victorian big bag, no limits,
grouse shooting has created a context in
which the outrage at illegal bird-of-prey
killing has spiralled and profound concerns
have now become apparent about the nature
of land management that is delivering huge
densities of nesting Red Grouse. As a com-
parison, densities of 300 pairs/km2 are now
the target in the UK set against a natural
density of 3 pairs/km2 across the range of the
Willow Grouse in Scandinavia.
This new approach has created conflict
between those within the grouse industry
and those concerned about its impact on the
environment and especially birds of prey. The
RSPB, clearly, has been part of an increas-
ingly polarised and heated debate. Much is
made of our charitable neutrality on the
ethics of sport shooting. Its critical to under-
stand that our focus is on the land-use prac-
tices that support the grouse industry and its
conservation impacts and not the shooting
activity itself.
Our aim is simple: we want a future where
our uplands are richer in wildlife than they
are today. This will require a shift in the way
that our land is managed and clearly, as well
as creating jeopardy for existing environ-
mental laws, Brexit provides a once-in-a-
generation opportunity to reform our agri-
culture and land-use system.
The case for change has become more
compelling in recent years. Our own research
informed a complaint to the European Com-
mission about the way our most important
blanket bogs were being managed. We high-
lighted the scale and extent of damage that
rotational burning was causing to our most
important upland sites in England. The trigger
for this complaint was the management
carried out at Walshaw Moor, near Hebden
Bridge in the southern Pennines, and the
failure of Natural England to tackle it. I was
taken there a few years ago and was shocked at
British Birds 110 April 2017 190 191

the intensity of management that was plain to
see from the Pennine Way that crosses the
moor: new tracks and shooting butts, areas of
grassland sprayed with herbicide, all within
the regular chequerboard landscape caused by
rotational burning that is the signature of
driven grouse shooting in the hills.
Our own monitoring and the data from
volunteer raptor workers throughout the
uplands is adding weight to our knowledge
that birds of prey are under renewed pres-
sure. In England only three Hen Harriers
nested successfully in 2016, Peregrine Falcons
Falco peregrinus are largely absent again from
areas of northwest England and the Peak Dis-
trict remains a black hole for Northern
Goshawks Accipiter gentilis and other raptors.
Satellite tagging is adding greater detail to
our knowledge of the movements and fates of
individual Hen Harriers and with support of
funders such as LUSH and through our EU
LIFE-funded project we are learning much
more about the lives of our most threatened
bird of prey.
The intensification of land management
for grouse and its environmental conse-
quences have prompted a wave of cam-
paigning and outrage including the
establishment of Birders Against Wildlife
Crime and their creation of Hen Harrier Day,
which we are proud to support, and of course
the recent petition that secured a debate in
the House of Commons. The stated aim of
that petition, sponsored by my predecessor
Mark Avery, was to secure a ban of driven
grouse shooting in England. While fully in
agreement with the assessment of the impact
of driven grouse shooting, we do not support
a ban.
The RSPB has a strong track record of
working with a variety of industries that have
an impact (for good or ill) on our natural
world the water industry, ports, and the
aggregate industry are just some of the exam-
ples where we have often started from a posi-
tion of conflict but developed constructive
working relations that now are delivering
some of our most productive and worthwhile
partnerships. Modern industry should aspire
to minimise its impact on the natural world,
advocate change to others and, if their busi-
ness model results in unacceptable harm, be
prepared to change that model. This same
British Birds 110 April 2017 190 191
BB eye
thinking must apply to grouse shooting.
The industry needs to do more to
acknowledge that its land management is cre-
ating environmental problems and then
begin to clean up its act. We believe that
licensing would be a way to drive out some of
the most unsustainable practices and give
confidence to the public that the industry has
a place in modern Britain. Critically, a
licensing system would build trust a com-
modity as rare as an English Hen Harrier at
the moment.
Progress is likely to move at different
speeds across the UK. In Scotland, there is
greater interest in a state-regulated licensing
system for gamebird hunting, stimulated by a
recent Scottish Raptor Study Group petition
to the Scottish Parliament. In England, there
is clearly not parliamentary support for
reform at the moment, and the House of
Commons debate demonstrated that. Yet I
believe that the quality of the debate will
reform as more scrutiny is given to unsus-
tainable land-management practices.
Through a maturation of political thinking
and sustained public pressure, reform will
surely come.
The collateral damage of an intensifying
land use to produce superabundant Red
Grouse for sport shooting is significant and
increasingly unacceptable. It is occurring at a
landscape scale and affects fundamental
human needs including water quality and the
ability to ameliorate flood risk and carbon
loss; these issues, and the damage to wildlife,
especially through the illegal loss of our birds
of prey, are all part of the challenge to the
industry to reform.
The evidence will continue to build
through the efforts of raptor workers and
birdwatchers monitoring populations,
through the satellite tagging and tracking of
Hen Harriers, through our own dedicated
investigations work and the case for change
will strengthen further. Licensing could be the
approach that builds trust, restores confidence
and opens the door to a new relationship
between grouse-moor owners and the public.
It could even be the key to providing driven
grouse shooting with the future it craves.
Martin Harper
RSPB Conservation Director
191
 News and comment
Compiled by Adrian Pitches
Opinions expressed in this feature are not necessarily those of British Birds
Curlews in crisis
An assessment published in the journal Bird
Conservation International (see http://ow.ly/
vxnY309jQgW) has revealed that loss of
habitat could lead to the extinction of a
number of species of curlews and godwits.
The worlds godwit and curlew species
occur on all continents except Antarctica, but
breed only in the northern hemisphere. Over
half are of global conservation concern,
including two (Eskimo Curlew Numenius
borealis and Slender-billed Curlew N.
tenuirostris) that are Critically Endangered
and may well be Extinct, and two others
(Far Eastern Curlew N. madagascariensis and
Bristle-thighed Curlew N. tahitiensis) also
threatened with extinction. A further three
Numeniini (13 species worldwide), which all
occur in the UK, Eurasian Curlew N. arquata,
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica and
Black-tailed Godwit L. limosa, are globally
Near Threatened.
The main threat to these long-billed
shorebirds is loss of non-breeding habitats.
Bill Coster/FLPA
92. Displaying Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata, Shetland, June 2012.
192
Most rely on coastal estuaries and wetlands
outside the breeding season, many of which
face increasing development and disturbance.
This pressure is greatest on the Yellow Sea
coasts of China and Korea, perhaps the most
important staging area in the world for
migratory birds. Part of the East Asian
Australasian Flyway, the Yellow Sea provides
a vital rung in the migratory ladder between
northern breeding areas in Asia and Alaska
and southern non-breeding areas as far south
as New Zealand and as far west as India. A
quarter of the Yellow Seas mudflats have
been lost since the 1980s and much of the
remainder are heavily degraded, causing
declines in many wader species that depend
on them. Increasing pressure for coastal
development elsewhere in Asia and across the
Americas may similarly affect other species.
All curlew and godwit species nest on the
ground in open landscapes. The deteriora-
tion of these habitats, for example through
changes in agricultural practices, drainage,
British Birds 110 April 2017 192 196

tree planting and disturbance, is a significant
pressure across Europe and North America,
exacerbated by increasing populations of
generalist predators such as Red Foxes Vulpes
vulpes. Climate change is also likely to be an
increasing threat through time in both
breeding and non-breeding areas.
The papers lead author, James Pearce-
Higgins, from the BTO, said: These long-
lived wader species require wild, open
landscapes for breeding, and generally
occupy undisturbed coastal habitats at other
times of the year. Many are long-distance
migrants and vulnerable to change
throughout their annual cycle. In many ways,
they are among the most sensitive bird
species to global change. That more than half
But there could be new hope for Slender-billed Curlew
Another paper in Bird Conservation Interna-
tional (abstract available at http://bit.ly/
2lp7vnS) suggests that we may have been
looking in the wrong place for a surviving
population of this Critically Endangered (or
perhaps Extinct) species.
The authors used stable-isotope analysis
to re-examine the potential breeding range of
the Slender-billed Curlew and came up with
an intriguing conclusion. One of them,
Graeme Buchanan, gave his account in a blog
on the Ornithological Society of the Middle
East website www.osme.org/content/where-
did-slender-billed-curlews-breed
The number of fully documented Slender-
billed Curlew nests ever found could be
counted on one hand. And they all came
from the early twentieth century, from the
Omsk region of Siberia. The full extent of the
breeding area has always been unclear. But
establishing the boundaries of the potential
breeding range could be an important step in
rediscovering this lost species.
Staff at the RSPB Centre for Conservation
Science led on the analysis of stable-isotope
data the chemical signatures in birds were taking place on the edge of their histor-
feathers. This work began many years ago
and used samples of feathers from juvenile
Slender-billed Curlew skins from museums
across the globe. As juvenile primary feathers
are grown on the breeding areas, the chem-
ical signature from hydrogen in water mole-
British Birds 110 April 2017 192 196
News and comment
of the species studied are rapidly declining
globally should emphasise to us the impact
we are having upon the planet.
The RSPBs Nicola Crockford said: The
Eurasian Curlew is an iconic species; its
appearance in spring is announced by one of
natures most evocative calls. Sadly like many
UK species the Eurasian Curlew is in trouble,
their numbers have dropped dramatically,
putting them at risk of disappearing com-
pletely from the UK.
Through RSPBs Curlew Recovery Pro-
gramme and BTOs programme of Curlew
research, we are working together, in partner-
ship with a range of people from farmers and
landowners to statutory nature conservation
bodies, to reverse this decline.
cules in the feathers could reveal the breeding
areas. Simultaneously, a series of expeditions
sampled feathers of waders at known loca-
tions from across Russia and Kazakhstan.
These expeditions collected a wide range of
samples and recorded the GPS coordinates of
each.
Maps of the ratio of hydrogen isotopes
across the globe have been available for many
years so by comparing the values measured
in the wader feathers collected on the expedi-
tions with those from these large-scale maps,
the research team could derive a calibration
equation that linked feather values to
mapped values. The feather values from the
Slender-billed Curlews were fed into this
equation, enabling the team to identify where
these juveniles grew their primary feathers.
And the results were surprising. The core of
the breeding range was not predicted to be
around Omsk, but was much farther south, in
the forest/steppe region of northern Kaza-
khstan. Omsk was identified as the source of
some birds but the new results indicated that
recent searches for Slender-billed Curlews
ical range. The area to the south in Kazakhstan
could be much more productive. Indeed, it
recently revealed a (hitherto unsuspected)
sizeable population of Sociable Lapwings
Vanellus gregarius. Could the Slender-billed
Curlew also hang on in this area?
193
News and comment
Sociable Lapwings in Pakistan
Two satellite-tagged Sociable Lapwings have
led BirdLife researchers to potentially impor-
tant wintering grounds for this Critically
Endangered species. The birds, named
Tesfaye and Maysa, have both spent the
winter in Pakistan after they were tagged on
the breeding grounds in Kazakhstan in
summer 2015.
The importance of Pakistan as a wintering
area for the species was previously unclear
but the Indus River valley in Balochistan and
Sindh provinces in December 2016 and
January 2017 revealed an impressive flock of
200 birds in agricultural fields near the town
of Dadu and a further flock nearby at
A right Royal row over a missing Goshawk
The curious tale of a satellite-tagged
Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis tracked
to the Queens Sandringham Estate in
Norfolk in August last year before it died in
unexplained circumstances has surfaced in
The Daily Mail. That newspaper is, of course,
second to none in its admiration for the
Royal Family but its story does pose some
uncomfortable questions for the estate man-
agers at Sandringham. You can read the story
online (http://dailym.ai/2mJGvPj) but here are
the bare bones, as it were.
The BTO received the Goshawks satellite
tag in the post together with a Sandringham
compliments slip. When the BTO contacted
estate staff to ask what had happened, it was
told the remains had been incinerated and
that the bird had been dead for a long time.
That did not accord with the tracking data
the bird was alive and well on 8th August
2016, just three days before the satellite tag
was posted back to BTO HQ. So the BTO
contacted Norfolk Police.
The young Goshawk was one of five
chicks that fledged from nests in Thetford
Forest and were fitted with tags last summer.
This particular female left its nest on 23rd
July and flew north, spending 11 days flying
around the 8,000-ha Sandringham Estate and
the area nearby. Its tag revealed it was in trees
170 m west of Sandringham House at 6.28
pm on 8th August. Further signals were sent
194
Khairpur Nathan Shah. The birds were using
winter wheat fields and the flock is the largest
seen anywhere in winter. Although Sociable
Lapwings can form large flocks on migration,
such as in Turkey, Syria, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan, they usually disperse into smaller
flocks when they reach the wintering areas.
The Sociable Lapwing Project is coordi-
nated by BirdLife and has been running since
2004, the year the species was uplisted to
Critically Endangered. Each year since then,
researchers have collected data on numbers,
habitat use, distribution and nesting success
on the breeding grounds in Kazakhstan. See
sociable-lapwing.birdlife.org
at 6.27 pm on 10th August and 12.26 pm on
11th August from exactly the same point in
the car park of the Sandringham Estate
office, suggesting that the bird was not
moving and was already dead.
The package containing the tag was deliv-
ered to the BTO in Thetford on the afternoon
of 11th August by Royal Mail and the BTO
contacted the estate to ask what had hap-
pened to the Goshawk. A member of staff
said the bird had been found dead on 9th
August and was disposed of as it had been
dead for a long time and was decomposing.
The BTO then contacted the police as it had
initial uncertainties about the story, with the
birds tag showing it alive on 8th August.
Norfolk Police later found that San-
dringhams initial account was inaccurate
due to a breakdown of communication as
the staff member who spoke to the BTO had
not spoken directly to the gardener who
found the bird. The gardener claimed that
the bird had been alive when he found it
beside a perimeter fence, but it was in a poor
condition and quickly died. Estate staff told
the police they had put the body in an incin-
erator.
BTO spokesman Paul Stancliffe said: The
police came back to us about three weeks
later and said they had found no suspicious
circumstances surrounding the birds death.
He added that he would have preferred the
British Birds 110 April 2017 192 196
 News and comment

body to have been returned

to the BTO, to determine the
cause of death, and said:
The bird could have died
from natural causes, but we
do not know. Norfolk Police
said: A thorough investiga-
tion was carried out and no
wrongdoing was identified.
A Buckingham Palace
spokesman said: We note
the findings of the investiga-
tion.
Of course, this is not the
first time that Sandringham
has been implicated in the
disappearance of birds
of prey. Norfolk Police
launched an earlier investi-

Marcel de Bruin Buiten-beeld/Minden/FLPA

gation after a satellite-tagged
female Montagus Harrier
Circus pygargus mysteriously
vanished on land bordering
Sandringham in August
2014. This birds tag had
been fitted by the RSPB, but
no body was found.
And, most famously,
Prince Harry and his friend
William van Cutsem were
interviewed by Norfolk
Police in October 2007 after
93. Juvenile Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis, the Netherlands,
two visitors to Dersingham September 2015.
Bog nature reserve claimed
they saw two Hen Harriers C. cyaneus flying time. The pair and a gamekeeper denied any
over Sandringham and being blasted out of knowledge of the incident and no bodies
the sky. Prince Harry and his friend were were found. See Brit. Birds 100: 760 and The
shooting ducks and pigeons nearby at the Guardian http://bit.ly/2nesjeY

Norfolk Stonechats of many colours

A happier story from Dersingham involves
the European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola
population of Dersingham Bog NNR, which
is thriving. These birds are the subject of a
collaborative project between Natural
England, the North Norfolk Ringing Group
and the BTO, which has been monitoring
nests and colour-ringing the chicks. The
number of breeding pairs of Stonechats on
the reserve has risen dramatically in recent
years, with no fewer than 95 chicks ringed in
2016, resulting in high numbers of ringed
birds dispersing from the site. If you see a
Stonechat with a grey plastic ring and a metal
ring on the right leg, and two colour rings on
the left leg, its a Dersingham bird. Please do
send in your records, each one is important.
You can send them to Tom Bolderstone
(northwestnorfolkstonechats@gmail.com)
and find out more about the study via the
projects website: https://northwestnorfolk
stonechats.wordpress.com

British Birds 110 April 2017 192 196 195

News and comment
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler on
Scilly
Yet another potential first for Britain in 2016
(subject to BBRC/BOURC decisions) has
been posthumously identified by Martin
Collinson at Aberdeen University. DNA
analysis by the UKs CSI: Birding com-
mander-in-chief has confirmed that the Pale-
legged Leaf Phylloscopus tenellipes or Sakhalin
Leaf Warbler P. borealoides found dead on
St Agnes, Scilly, on 21st October was indeed
a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, which had trav-
elled a staggering 9,000 km from its breeding
grounds in the Far East.
As Martin laconically observed: Im old
enough to remember when there was a Lake
Baikal watershed Not any more this
latest record confirms that species breeding
on the Pacific coast of Russia can make their
way right across Eurasia to Britain.
The freshly dead phyllosc had been found
in the lighthouse garden on St Agnes, beneath
the conservatory window, suggesting a colli-
sion. Incredibly, this was the second British
record of an individual of this near-identical
species pair. Four years previously, almost to
the day (22nd October 2012), a bird was
present in a garden on Portland, in Dorset,
which was photographed but not trapped.
This was accepted by the records committees
as Pale-legged Leaf/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler but
could not be admitted to the British List.
The St Agnes warbler capped an extraor-
dinary run of potential firsts for Britain in
2016. We await the final rulings on Dalma-
tian Pelican Pelecanus crispus, Lammergeier
Gypaetus barbatus, Western Swamphen Por-
phyrio porphyrio, Red-footed Booby Sula
sula, Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus,
Siberian Accentor Prunella montanella and
now Pale-legged Leaf Warbler.
The British List teetered on the brink of
600 species for years before finally passing
that milestone in February 2016. But by
January 2018, with the recent flurry of
records and the adoption of the IOC tax-
onomy (Brit. Birds 110: 137) the List could
be approaching 620 species!
For extended versions of many of the stories featured here,
and much more, visit our website www.britishbirds.co.uk
196
New species of tern
discovered
The Royal Tern Sterna maxima is tradition-
ally considered to have two subspecies
nominate maxima (found in the Americas)
and albididorsalis (in parts of West Africa).
But conservationists in The Gambia have
long suspected that the West African birds are
distinct, and now scientists have used DNA
analysis to show that they are two separate
species. The study (published last month in
the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society)
also revealed that the nearest relative of the
West African Royal Tern is the much smaller
Lesser Crested Tern S. bengalensis, rather than
American Royal Tern. The research will be
presented to international conservation
authorities in a bid to have the status of the
West African birds re-evaluated. Since the
birds breeding grounds are under threat,
from climate change and human activity, this
is a potentially very significant discovery.
Martin Collinson, from the University of
Aberdeen, said: West African and American
Royal Terns look pretty much identical,
except that the American Royal Tern is on
average slightly larger with a slightly redder
bill This research should have an impact
on the West African Royal Terns conserva-
tion status. Conservationists in The Gambia
can now take this information to their Gov-
ernment and potential donors, and call for
help to protect this West African endemic
species.
New county recorders
Highland Peter Stronach, Clachan, Boat
of Garten, Inverness-shire PH24 3BX;
tel: 01479 851272;
e-mail highlandrecorder@gmail.com
Outer Hebrides Yvonne Benting, Suthainn,
Askernish, South Uist, Outer Hebrides
HS8 5SY;
e-mail recorder@outerhebridesbirds.org.uk
British Birds 110 April 2017 192 196
The Sacred Ibis in Europe:
ecology and management
Pierre Ysou, Philippe Clergeau, Suzanne Bastian,
Sbastien Reeber and Jean-Franois Maillard
Abstract The Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus is common and widespread in its
native range. The species adaptability means that it thrives in landscapes modified
by human activity. In recent decades, non-native populations have become
established in several areas of Europe as a result of escapes or deliberate releases
from collections. Such populations have the potential to become established and
increase quickly, and thus to have a significant impact on native species. This paper
summarises the current situation in Europe, with particular reference to France.
The largest non-native populations in Europe became established in France
between about 1990 and 2005, prompting a costly eradication programme, the
progress and results of which are described.

The Sacred Ibis in its native range
The Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus is
common and widespread throughout much
of sub-Saharan Africa, and a small, isolated
and decreasing population persists in
southern Iraq (Bonn 2005). The world popu-
lation, estimated at some 200,000450,000
individuals, is thought to be stable or
declining (Wetlands International wpe.
wetlands.org; BirdLife www.birdlife.org), and
it is treated as a species of Least Concern
under IUCN criteria (iucnredlist.org).
In South Africa, where most studies have
been carried out, the Sacred Ibis bred only on
coastal islets near Cape Town at the begin-
ning of the twentieth century, moving to
inland marshes in winter. Subsequently, it
benefited from irrigation, agriculture intensi-
fication, and conservation measures, and
progressively established colonies as far
inland as Zimbabwe (Harrison et al. 1997;
Kopij 1999). Although it is nominally resi-
dent, over 50% of ring-recoveries are more
than 100 km from the ringing site (Hockey et
al. 2005), while post-breeding movements of
up to 1,000 km occur, and some consider the
Sacred Ibis to be more accurately described
as nomadic (Clark & Clark 1979; Harrison et
al. 1997; Underhill et al. 1999).
The Sacred Ibis is a social breeder, in
colonies from a few tens up to c. 2,000 pairs.
Nests are built on a variety of supports,
mostly in trees and bushes but sometimes on
the ground or among rocks (Urban 1974;
Brown et al. 1982; Hancock et al. 1992).
Around Cape Town, ibises breed in reedbeds,
on the ground, in trees and bushes and even
on artificial breeding platforms. In all cases,
breeding sites are completely surrounded by
water or on an offshore island, and the
species will breed almost anywhere provided
that the island criterion is met (Doug Hare-
bottle in litt.).
Ibises are similarly social when feeding,
mostly foraging in groups, often with other
long-legged species such as Yellow-billed
Stork Mycteria ibis, African Spoonbill
Platalea alba and Little Egret Egretta garzetta
(Hancock et al. 1992). In Africa as a whole,
the main foraging habitats are farmland, wet-
lands, and rubbish dumps (Brown et al.
1982), while in South Africa over 80% of
records are from grassland habitats, the
remainder mainly from freshwater wetlands
and estuaries (Harrison et al. 1997). The
species will also use a wide variety of man-
modified and artificial habitats (Clark &
Clark 1979).

British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212 197

 Ysou et al.
Sbastien Reeber
94. Sacred Ibises Threskiornis aethiopicus, Lac de Grand-Lieu, France, May 2011.
The Sacred Ibis feeds mainly on locusts,
grasshoppers, and aquatic beetles; it will also
take a variety of other aquatic and terrestrial
invertebrates, in addition to fish, amphibians,
lizards, birds and small mammals. Carrion,
vegetable and animal refuse, offal and seeds
are also taken. In addition, breeding birds can
raid neighbouring nests for eggs and chicks,
and some individuals specialise in raiding the
nests of other birds, sometimes pulling adult
birds out of their nest to take the eggs or
young. Victims include pelicans, herons,
spoonbills and cormorants, gulls and terns
on offshore islands, and two Endangered
species (African Penguin Spheniscus demersus
and Cape Cormorant Phalacrocorax
capensis), and they will even take eggs of the
Nile Crocodile Crocodylus niloticus (Clark
1979; Brown et al. 1982; Harrison et al. 1997;
Hockey et al. 2005; Williams & Ward 2006).
The Sacred Ibis as a non-native
The Sacred Ibis is absent from the paleonto-
logical and archeo-zoological record in
Europe (Mourer-Chauvir 1993), and there is
no evidence for natural vagrancy out of
Africa. In the early nineteenth century the
species still bred in Egypt, in the Nile Valley,
but disappeared within a few decades (del
Hoyo et al. 1992). There are no modern-day
198
reports from Egypt (Egyptian Ornithological
Rarities Committee http://chn-france.org/
eorc), and none has reached Morocco
although it is common in Mauritania
(Thvenot et al. 2003; Moroccan Rarities
Committee www.go-south.org). Conse-
quently, any Sacred Ibis recorded in the wild
in Europe can be regarded as a former
captive, released either deliberately or acci-
dentally. Such escapes remained a rare sight
until it became more common for zoological
collections to house free-flying groups of
ibises (Clergeau & Ysou 2006; Fbregas et al.
2010). In recent decades, the number of
escapes has led to the establishment of signif-
icant non-native populations in some areas.
Non-native species that become estab-
lished in the wild may have a negative impact
on native species, potentially with a signifi-
cant loss of biodiversity as well as economic
impacts, and are termed invasive species
(e.g. Mooney & Cleland 2001, Vil et al. 2010,
Martin-Albarracin et al. 2015). Accordingly,
the European Parliament and the Council of
the European Union adopted a regulation to
prevent, minimise and mitigate the adverse
impact on biodiversity of the introduction
and spread within the Union of invasive alien
species (European Commission 2014). This
required the Commission to adopt a list of
British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212
 The Sacred Ibis in Europe: ecology and management
invasive alien species of Union concern,
which came into effect in August 2016 (Euro-
pean Commission 2016). The list contains 37
species, including three bird species: House
Crow Corvus splendens, Ruddy Duck Oxyura
jamaicensis and Sacred Ibis. In addition, a
pan-European research programme has iden-
tified the Sacred Ibis among the invasive
species of main European concern (DAISIE
2009 www.europe-aliens.org). These three
species are now the subject of control and
eradication programmes throughout the EU.
The House Crow has established popula-
tions in over 20 countries outside its native
range and often rapidly attained pest status,
for example through predation of native
species and as a carrier of human and animal
disease (GISD 2017). The threat posed by the
Ruddy Duck to the conservation of the
endangered native White-headed Duck O.
leucocephala in southern Europe and the con-
sequent eradication programme in the UK
are well known (e.g. Henderson 2009,
Holling et al. 2017). The remainder of this
paper considers the potential problems of
established non-native Sacred Ibis popula-
tions. Focusing on the situation in France,
where the largest introduced population in
the world has spread, we highlight the diffi-
culties encountered in setting up an eradica-
tion programme to deal with such a large and
widespread population. When not otherwise
stated, the information presented here
has been collected by the authors and their
institutions.
95. Sacred Ibises Threskiornis aethiopicus, Banc du Bilho, Loire estuary, France, April 2005.
British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212
Introductions in Europe and
elsewhere
Free-flying Sacred Ibises have been reported
from several European countries. Breeding
has occurred in the wild in France, Spain,
Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands and possibly
other nations. A number of free-ranging
colonies have become established; the situa-
tion in France is treated in more detail below,
but a brief summary of breeding status in
other European countries is given first.
Spain and Canary Islands
Sacred Ibises that escaped from Barcelona
Zoo settled in a nearby public park, where
breeding first occurred in 1974. This con-
tinued throughout the 1980s and 1990s, after
which the colony was controlled, and
breeding was last recorded in 2001. The
breeding birds also visited nearby wetland
areas including the Llobregat and Ebro deltas
(Jordi Clavell in litt.). In the Canary Islands,
where the species was first recorded in 1989,
free-ranging ibises have nested regularly on
Fuerteventura since at least 1997, with 25
pairs nesting in the early 2000s (Ysou &
Clergeau 2005) and unknown numbers since
then.
Portugal
Three Sacred Ibises escaped from a zoo near
Coimbra in 1998; a pair nested nearby and
reared three young that year, after which they
disappeared. Since 2009 the species has been
observed almost year-round in the Algarve
Jrme Cabelguen
199
 Ysou et al.
with up to six birds together, but breeding
has so far not been recorded (de Juana &
Garcia 2015; Gonalo Elias in litt.).
Italy
Breeding in the upper Po Valley, Piedmont,
began in 1989, and 26 pairs nested there in
2000, when approximately 100 individuals
were present. In 2003 breeding occurred at a
second site in the same area, with possibly
2530 pairs, and a few more pairs were found
at a third colony in 2004 (Ysou & Clergeau
2005). More recent information, from the
200110 winter waterbird counts (Zenatello
et al. 2014), which may not have monitored
the whole population, revealed increased dis-
persal away from Piedmont, which led to
breeding attempts in Venetia and Tuscany.
The highest national winter count up to 2010
was 70 in 2008, but numbers have increased
since (Nicola Baccetti in litt.). In 2015 there
were at least 140 nests in ten colonies, with
a much greater non-breeding population:
hundreds of ibises came in to roost at some
colonies (Mauro Fasola in litt.). In late 2016,
a census coordinated by GPSO, the Piemon-
tese ornithological group, found 4,068 indi-
viduals in 13 roosts in northwest Italy. The
Italian population, which remained low for
about 20 years, is now suddenly booming
(Gianfranco Alessandria in litt.). As yet there
is no coordinated control programme for the
population in Italy.
Jrme Cabelguen
96. Part of the Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus colony at Banc du Bilho, Loire estuary, April 2005.
200
The Netherlands
Free-flying Sacred Ibises that escaped from a
zoological park in Zuid-Holland attempted
to breed in 2001, and successful breeding
occurred in 2002. Numbers increased to ten
breeding pairs in 2003 and 15 pairs in 2007.
Eradication measures began in 2008 and only
45 pairs remained in 2009. A few birds are
still at large, possibly new escapees or birds
arriving from Germany (Smits et al. 2010;
Robert et al. 2013; www.cr-birding.org).
Sporadic reports of breeding birds continue,
most recently a single pair at De Wieden NP
in 2016 (Ronald Messemaker pers. comm.).
Other European countries
Other free-flying colonies are known in
Belgium (Antwerpen Zoological Garden;
Gunter de Smet in litt.) and Germany (a
colony at Walsrode bird park in the 1980s
had disappeared by the end of the 1990s,
while another colony, at Munich Zoo, was the
likely source for birds seen in Switzerland;
Andreas Buchheim and Nicola Baccetti in
litt.). Also in Germany, 12 young Sacred
Ibises escaped from a bird sanctuary in the
Munster area, where they were hand-raised
by a researcher from the Konrad-Lorenz
Institute for Ethology; part of that group
seemingly reached the Netherlands (Smits
et al. 2010, www.michelklemann.nl/ibis/mail/
ebn20001125.html). In the UK, several free-
flying Sacred Ibises dispersed from a zoo near
British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212
 The Sacred Ibis in Europe: ecology and management

Dalton-in-Furness,
Cumbria, and moved
to the nearby coast
(Ian Carter in litt.).

Releases and
escapes outside
Europe
Since 1989 a small
introduced popula-
tion has persisted on
Sir Bani Yas Island
Branfr Zoo
in the United Arab
Emirates (Ysou &
Clergeau 2005). A Golfe du Morbihan
dozen birds that
escaped from a zoo- Banc du Bilho
logical garden in Lac de Grand-Lieu
Taiwan in the early
1990s rapidly estab-
lished a thriving
population, with hun-
dreds of birds living in
the wild by 2002 Girond estuary
(Agoramoorthy & Colonies
Hsu 2007; Adam Welz,
large (>100 pairs)
Wayne Hsu and Lucia
small
Liu Severinghaus in
area of dispersal
litt.). In the USA, five
main coastal wetlands
Sacred Ibises escaped
from Miami Zoo, origin of escapes
Florida, in 1992 when
0 50 100km
Hurricane Andrew
destroyed their enclo-
sure. Initially they
bred in the area and Fig. 1. The location of Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus breeding
numbers grew unno- colonies in western France.
ticed until they began
breeding in the Everglades. Local govern- this period a breeding colony became estab-
ment, and state and federal administrations lished and while the introduced adults had
joined forces to eradicate the species, and their wings clipped, their offspring were left
now all Sacred Ibises living in the wild in free to fly. At the owners wish, the site
southern Florida, approximately 75 birds, became a zoological garden when they passed
have been removed (Herring & Gawlik 2008; away. By 1990 there were 150 pairs of Sacred
Johnson & McGarrity 2009). Ibises nesting in the zoo and visiting nearby
wetlands, but some moved several hundred
The Sacred Ibis in France kilometres along the Atlantic coast. Breeding
In the 1970s, the owners of Branfr Manor, in the wild and away from Branfr Manor
in southern Brittany, imported various bird was first noted at Lac de Grand-Lieu in 1993,
species, including 20 Sacred Ibises that came c. 70 km from Branfr, and at Golfe du
from Kenya in four deliveries between 1975 Morbihan in 1994, c. 25 km from Branfr
and 1980. These were later supplemented by Manor (Marion & Marion 1994; Frmont
ten birds from a French zoo in 1987. During 1995; Ysou 2005).

British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212 201

Ysou et al.
No young raised at Branfr Manor have
been left to fly free since 1997, but sufficient
birds were already breeding elsewhere to
establish a thriving population from
southern Brittany to the Arcachon Bay, south
of Bordeaux (fig. 1, and documented in detail
by, for example, Ysou & Clergeau 2005,
Philippon & Ysou 2012, Ysou & Reeber
2014). Winter roost counts revealed c. 2,500
birds in 2003/04, and c. 3,000 in 2004/05.
Breeding numbers increased steadily,
reaching c. 1,700 pairs in 2006 (fig. 2), and
between 1,430 and 1,860 pairs in 2007, the
uncertainty being linked to the initiation
of control measures. The eradication
programme brought the French Atlantic
breeding population down to 150160 pairs
in both 2015 and 2016, and January counts of
c. 500 in 2016 and 300350 in 2017 (Maillard
& Ysou 2016; Aurlie Barbotin in litt.).
Outside the breeding season the ibises
range widely along the Atlantic coast, some
south to the foot of Pyrenees, others reaching
the English Channel coast in northern
Brittany and Normandy, and a few birds
moving inland. A ringed bird reached the
Belgian border in 1999 (Clergeau et al. 2005),
another was in the Netherlands in 2012 (Ralf
Smits in litt.), and one was seen with a group
of ten birds in Doana National Park, Spain,
in the 2008 breeding season (Carlos
Gutirrez Expsito in litt.).
On the Mediterranean coast, eight Sacred
Ibises were imported from a zoo in the UK to
5000
4000 wintering birds (individuals)
breeding pairs
3000
2000
1000
0
1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990
Fig. 2. Population growth of the Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus in western France from 1980 to
2006, showing breeding pairs in blue and numbers in winter (individuals) in red. Numbers reached
c. 5,000 in winter 2005/06 and c. 1,700 breeding pairs in 2006. Fitted lines are exponential curves.
202
a safari park at Sigean, in 1982 (fig. 3). From
1989 onwards they were able to roam freely
within the park and breeding took place in
1991. Sightings outside the zoo became
regular from 1995 and a colony of eight nests
was found at the nearby Lac de Bages in
2000, which increased to 75 pairs in 2004 and
105 pairs in 2005. The total population,
including immatures and non-breeders, was
estimated at 370 individuals in 2007. These
birds dispersed along the Mediterranean
coast, eventually reaching the Camargue,
where the first breeding attempt was
recorded in 2000 (Kayser et al. 2005; Ysou &
Clergeau 2005; Mouronval 2013). Ibises seen
in Catalua, Spain, in the early 2000s were
thought to come from this population (de
Juana & Garcia 2015). Control measures in
the late 2000s saw the Mediterranean popula-
tion almost completely extirpated, with only
two birds remaining in the wild by 2015, in
the Camargue (Maillard & Ysou 2016).
Contrary to reports, 38 birds that escaped
from a zoo at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in 2007
were rapidly recaptured and did not supple-
ment the Mediterranean population (Jean-
Marc Cugnasse in litt.).
Breeding biology
Breeding colonies were established at both
brackish and freshwater wetlands on the
Mediterranean coast, while in western France
they were found in freshwater wetlands,
various coastal sites and in private parks.
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212
 The Sacred Ibis in Europe: ecology and management
breeding colonies
area of dispersal
main coastal wetlands
origin of escapes
Lac de Bages Camargue
Sigean Zoo
Mediterranean Sea
Fig. 3. The location of Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus breeding colonies on the Mediterranean
coast of France.
Most colonies were surrounded by water, but
in two regularly occupied parks the lawn sur-
rounding isolated stands of trees seemingly
provided a sufficient island. Another colony
was established in a mixed heronry in a small
wood. Nests are most often built in trees:
willow Salix and alder Alnus in marshes,
mostly cypress Cupressus, tamarisk Tamarix
and Maritime Pine Pinus pinaster, but also
oak Quercus and chestnut Castanea, when
colonies are located on dry ground. Breeding
has been noted occasionally in wet reedbeds,
and also on the ground, as in the case of one
of the most impressive aggregations of nests,
735 pairs on a small (c. 0.2 ha) artificial
island with little vegetation.
The nesting season extends from early
March to August; most clutches are laid in
AprilMay with later ones being replacement
clutches. No marked synchrony is observed
across large colonies, but there is often a high
degree of synchrony among groups of (typi-
cally) 815 pairs that build nests very close
together (just a few tens of centimetres
apart), as a colony subgroup. The nests, typi-
cally around 30 cm in diameter, are usually
made of dry plant material, such as pieces of
reed, twigs or driftwood, collected close to
the site. On one island where little dry
British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212
Saint-Jean-
Cap-Ferrat Zoo
0 25 50 75 100km
material was available, nests were simple
scrapes on the ground, mostly lined with
grass. Additional material, sometimes
including greenery, is often added during
incubation, increasing the nest diameter. At
this stage neighbouring nests may come into
contact, forming what could be described as
a community platform. On the ground, one
such platform held 246 nests on c. 120 m2
(Ysou et al. 2006).
Apart from Wild Boars Sus scrofa
destroying clutches in reedbeds, which may
explain the scarcity of breeding attempts in
this habitat, the Sacred Ibis has no obvious
natural predators in France. This surely con-
tributed to the species breeding success
before the control programme began with,
on average, one young or more fledged per
breeding attempt (at least 1.3 young per pair
for 818 pairs in 2005, 1.01.2 young per pair
for 1,1001,200 pairs in 2006). Sightings of
ringed birds suggest that, following a failed
attempt, Sacred Ibises often move to another
site to lay a replacement clutch, either within
the same large wetland or up to tens of kilo-
metres away.
Sacred Ibises nesting in trees often,
though not always, share colonies with
herons and similarly large, colonial species
203
 Ysou et al.
Jrme Cabelguen

97. A cluster of Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus nests forming a community platform, Banc du
Bilho, Loire estuary, France, April 2005.

and also breed in close proximity to large that both species preferentially settled at
gulls on small islands. It has been claimed places previously occupied by their own
that Eurasian Spoonbills Platalea leu- species. The results thus offered little evi-
corodia were attracted by breeding Sacred dence that ibises play a role in the conser-
Ibises and that the (then) locally rare vation of Spoonbills.
Spoonbill population in France would
benefit from the presence of ibises Diet and feeding ecology
(Marion 2006). To test this, the locations In France, as in its native range, the Sacred
of all nests of both species were plotted Ibis is an opportunistic feeder. Invertebrates
and their period of laying recorded over generally form the majority of its varied diet,
five breeding seasons at Gr and-Lieu but individuals may specialise on other food
(Clergeau et al. 2010a). This showed that types, at least temporarily (Clergeau et al.
Spoonbills began to breed significantly 2010b). Table 1 shows the main foraging
earlier than ibises (by 1525 days), and habitats in western France. The increasing
importance of freshwater marshes may
reflect the spread of the invasive Red Swamp
Table 1. Main foraging habitats used by
Crayfish Procambarus clarkii, which is an
the Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus in
western France, 200004 (n=98; Clergeau important item in the birds diet. A large
et al. 2010b), and 200709 (n=60; ONCFS rubbish dump close to one of the main
unpubl. data). colonies was regularly attracting huge
numbers of ibises, up to 700 simultaneously,
foraging habitats 200004 200709 until it closed in 2007. Smaller dumps
agricultural landscape 28.6 % 2.4% continued to attract birds until 2010 at least,
wet meadows 18.4% 4.0% in groups of up to 150 individuals.
tidal habitats 22.4% 11.3% Away from these core habitats, ibises have
saltpans 12.2% 19.6% also been observed feeding in a variety of
rubbish dumps 9.2% 31.7% human habitats such as slurry pits, poultry
freshwater marshes 9.2% 31.0% farms and water treatment ponds, not to
mention the collections and wildlife parks

204 British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212

 The Sacred Ibis in Europe: ecology and management
they originated from (in western France
Branfr Zoo deliberately fed ibises up to
2002).
Sacred Ibises can feed alone but most
often forage in small groups, up to a few tens
of individuals. Less commonly, up to 200 can
be seen foraging together in the same wet
meadow or marsh. Typically, they feed in
single-species groups but will also mix with
other species, most often Little Egret, Herring
Larus argentatus and Black-headed Gulls
Chroicocephalus ridibundus and, in farmland,
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis and Eurasian
Curlew Numenius arquata.
Analysis of stomach contents and regurgi-
tates of birds in France by Clergeau et al.
(2010b) has shown that the most frequently
occurring food items are insects, particularly
dipterans and their larvae (e.g. mosquitoes,
midges, gnats), beetles, crayfish, refuse waste
(e.g. meat, bread, vegetables), and plant
matter including crops such as maize. Other
food items include spiders, molluscs (gas-
tropods and bivalves, particularly mussels),
annelids (earthworms), isopods, crabs,
shrimps, fish, amphibians (in particular
Common Toad Bufo bufo and probably
newts), small mammals and birds. Dry
animal food was found in the stomach con-
tents of ibises that continued to feed within
the wildlife park they originated from.
Marion (2013) suggested that the spread
Jrme Cabelguen
98 & 99. Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus nests, containing newly hatched and small chicks,
Banc du Bilho, Loire estuary, France, April 2005.
British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212
of the Red Swamp Crayfish was responsible
for a sharp increase in the Sacred Ibis popu-
lation in western France. Yet this is not
supported by the available evidence, with a
steady rate of ibis population growth main-
tained beyond the initial crayfish boom in
the late 1990s (fig. 2). Marion also claimed
that predation by Sacred Ibises on crayfish
helps to limit the latters spread, but again
this appears unfounded. Many other species
feed on the crayfish, and it seems that cray-
fish dynamics are mostly controlled by the
survival of young individuals, at a stage
where they are too small to attract avian
predators.
Predation by Sacred Ibises of the nests
and/or chicks of a variety of bird species has
been observed in France, including Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos, Garganey A. querqued-
ula, Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis, Cattle and
Little Egrets, Night Nycticorax nycticorax
and Squacco Herons Ardeola ralloides, Black-
winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus,
Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus,
Common Redshank Tringa totanus, Black
Chlidonias niger, Sandwich Sterna sandvi-
censis and Common Terns S. hirundo, and
Black-headed and Herring Gulls. Predation is
sometimes opportunistic, but there are docu-
mented instances of Sacred Ibises deliberately
and systematically searching for eggs or
chicks.
Jrme Cabelguen
205
 Ysou et al.
Georges Olioso
100. Sacred Ibises Threskiornis aethiopicus picking through the bins of a burger restaurant in Sigean,
southern France, in May 2005, demonstrating their catholic diet and ability to live alongside humans.
Threats to biodiversity
Sacred Ibises have caused widespread destruc-
tion at some Sandwich and Black Tern
colonies; predation within heronries, and of
wader nests has also been reported, and local
declines in breeding populations of these
species became apparent in some areas where
Sacred Ibises occurred (Kayser et al. 2005;
Vaslin 2005; Clergeau et al. 2010b; unpubl.
data). This was an early warning sign of the
potential wider impact of the ibises on native
species. In addition to direct predation,
groups of foraging ibises wading through
marsh tern colonies have unintentionally but
repeatedly destroyed Black Tern nests. Besides
birds, there are potential impacts on other
wildlife groups, especially amphibians.
Farmers, particularly those rearing cattle
and ducks, expressed concern that growing
numbers of Sacred Ibises might be significant
carriers of disease. It is known that livestock
pathogens are carried by the related Aus-
tralian White Ibis T. molucca (Epstein et al.
2007) and that avian tuberculosis has been
detected in captive Sacred Ibises (Dvorska et
al. 2007). Sacred Ibises regularly feed at
rubbish dumps and can also commute to
farmland, which may exacerbate the
problem. Studies have shown that the risk of
the Sacred Ibis to farm animals is only mod-
erate, except in cases where specific outbreaks
of an avian disease are causing concern
(Bastian et al. 2010a,b), although Vorimore et
al. (2013) described a pathogen new to
science from non-native Sacred Ibises.
206
An eradication programme for the
Sacred Ibis in France
In 1993, the manager of Branfr Zoo
alerted the Ministry of the Environment to
the proliferation of free-flying Sacred Ibises
released by the previous owners, but
received no response. (Conservation biolo-
gists also recognised the potential threats
posed and also informed the Ministry, in
both 1994 and 1996, again without
response.) Meanwhile, Branfr Zoo insti-
gated their own recapture and pinioning
programme in 1994, and by the end of 1996
all the free-flying ibises in the zoo had been
caught. At that stage, however, many
remained at large elsewhere.
Eventually, in April 2004, a regional
meeting gathered NGOs and public bodies
involved in the management of protected
areas, at which participants agreed that the
developing Sacred Ibis population might be
of conservation concern. In December
2004 the Ministr y of the Environment
requested INRA and ONCFS, two French
public bodies in charge of rural and
wildlife management, to produce a risk
assessment with proposals for manage-
ment. This report discussed the pros and
cons of four management scenar ios,
ranging from taking no action to organ-
ising the species eradication at a national
scale (Clergeau et al. 2005). In November
2005, the avifauna commission of CNPN,
the national advisory body, unanimously
recommended the eradication of the
British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212
 The Sacred Ibis in Europe: ecology and management
Sacred Ibis throughout France.
It was initially proposed that the eradica-
tion programme should be undertaken by
hunters, but this was unacceptable to LPO
(the BirdLife partner in France) and other
conservation organisations, who feared that
any large white bird, including egrets and
Spoonbills, would also be shot. The eradica-
tion programme was temporarily postponed
before CNPN recommended that it be
carried out by the national wildlife service,
ONCFS, beginning in 2007. ONCFS
employs c. 1,400 environment officers who
are responsible for the implementation of
environmental regulations, including the
monitoring and policing of hunting. Once
the revised eradication programme had
been approved by all the mandatory advi-
sory bodies at national and regional levels,
and no opposition was forthcoming from
conservationists, the programme recom-
menced.
The eradication project enabled France to
meet its international commitments, namely
the Bern Convention on the Conservation of
European Wildlife and Natural Habitats and
AEWA (the Agreement on the Conservation
of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds),
which both demand that signatory parties
eliminate introduced species when they pose
a threat to native species.
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Fig. 4. Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus populations in France, 200617, showing the decline in
the number of breeding pairs and non-breeding individuals (January count) present during the
eradication programme, as well as number of birds shot and clutches sterilised.
British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212
Results of the eradication
programme
In 2006, when the eradication programme
was (temporarily) postponed, LPO arranged
for Sacred Ibis eggs to be collected from what
was then the main colony, at Banc du Bilho,
an island in the Loire estuary (fig. 1). A total
of 1,223 eggs were collected from 663 nests.
However, replacement clutches were laid and,
since these were not removed, overall pro-
ductivity at the colony remained high. Egg
removal was thus deemed inefficient as a
measure to reduce the population signifi-
cantly. In 2007, ONCFS explored a number
of methods for eradication, and a pro-
gramme of shooting was launched in 2008.
However, since officers are not permitted to
shoot ibises in nature reserves, there was little
impact on overall numbers in 2008; the
numbers killed was almost matched by the
hundreds of young fledged from Lac de
Grand-Lieu (which, after culling at other
sites, has been the main breeding site
for Sacred Ibises since 2009). Since 2009, a
programme of egg sterilisation at Grand-Lieu
has ensured that most eggs do not hatch.
Done twice during the breeding season, this
has ensured that the vast majority of initial
and replacement clutches do not hatch, and
has resulted in a marked reduction in the
number of fledged young. Elsewhere, most
breeding pairs
birds shot
sterilised clutches
January count
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
207
 Ysou et al.
Denis Lacourpaille
Denis Lacourpaille
101 & 102. Decoys used to attract Sacred Ibises Threskiornis
aethiopicus during culling operations in western France, May 2013. present. These birds ranged
birds were shot, either on the ground at
feeding sites or near colonies, when flying to
and from foraging areas. Great care was taken
to avoid disturbance to other species and col-
lateral damage. Hence, very little work was
carried out at roost sites, which usually
contain other species.
In western France, a total of 8,237 Sacred
Ibises were culled between 2007 and 2016,
and 3,334 clutches of eggs were sterilised at
the Lac de Grand-Lieu colony in 200916.
This led to a marked population decline (fig.
4) and, in January 2017, only c. 300350
birds were attending winter roost sites. The
Grand-Lieu reserve is the only breeding site
still regularly occupied in western France,
after operations at alternative breeding sites
led to their abandonment. Non-breeding
birds continue to disperse over much of the
area occupied before the eradication pro-
gramme began, but in much smaller groups.
This, and the fact that the ibises have become
less approachable over time, makes comple-
208
tion of the programme more
difficult. The average number
of ibises culled per day
decreased from 33 per officer
in 2008 to 910 in 201213.
The increased effort required
per bird makes it difficult to
predict when complete eradi-
cation will be achieved.
On the Mediterranean
coast, 485 ibises have been
removed from the wild, 395
killed and 90 captured alive
and placed in an aviary. The
latter were birds that con-
tinued to feed at the wildlife
parks from which they origi-
nated. Alpha-chloralose was
mixed with animal food in
order to capture them (the
drug is used to stupefy the
birds, which can then be cap-
tured and allowed to recover).
Most culling took place in
2007 and 2008, and by 2010
no Sacred Ibises remained
outside the Camargue, where
fewer than 20 birds were still
over a wide area, often vis-
iting sites where access was difficult or where
they were associated with sensitive species,
which meant that control was much more
problematic. Despite those difficulties, only
two ibises were still alive by the end of 2015.
The cost of eradication
The full cost of the eradication programme
has yet to be fully established. In the Mediter-
ranean, the cost of culling 173 of the 395
individuals removed (44%) has been esti-
mated at c. 50,000 (Mouronval 2013),
which would extrapolate to c. 114,000 for
the entire population. In western France, the
cost of the cull and the egg sterilisation pro-
gramme, together with associated adminis-
tration costs, was estimated at c. 400,000
over the five-year period, 200812. Although
the number of ibises has been significantly
reduced, the annual cost of the eradication
programme may now rise as more effort is
required to remove the remaining birds in an
increasingly small, widely dispersed, and now
British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212
 The Sacred Ibis in Europe: ecology and management

wary population. Additional costs, not incor-
porated in the above estimate, include, for
example, those linked to studies carried out
alongside the programme, such as popula-
tion surveys, and the costs of the associated
legal and scientific framework.
Conclusions
In France and elsewhere, the adaptability of
the Sacred Ibis, in particular its ability to
thrive in close proximity to humans, has
meant that introduced populations can
become established quickly. Such popula-
tions may bring significant conservation
problems. Events in the Netherlands and
Florida show that effective colonisation can
arise from a very small founder population,
only five birds in the latter case, and that the
population growth rate can be even greater
than that observed in France (Smits et al.
2010); the events in both France and Italy
show that numbers in the wild can remain
low for a long time before a sudden marked
increase. Only a rapid response will enable
such populations to be controlled, which was
the case in both the Netherlands and the
USA, and also in Spain. The situation in
western France shows just how costly a
programme to eradicate thousands of birds
can be and is surely the greatest incentive for
widespread adoption of EU regulations
that no escapes from captive populations are
permitted, and that programmes are devel-
oped to remove the introduced populations
throughout Europe. Clearly, retrieving the
current situation in Italy will not be cheap.
In the UK, the Non-native Species
Secretariat (www.nonnativespecies.org) is
responsible for controlling and managing the
potential colonisation by non-native species
and has an action plan which aims to
prevent the Sacred Ibis becoming an
established non-native species (www.non
nativespecies.org//downloadDocument.
cfm?id=942). In the first instance, any free-
flying Sacred Ibis should be reported to the
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (www.brc.
ac.uk/risc/alert.php?species=sacred_ibis). In
2014, following a police investigation, the
local zoo in Cumbria referred to earlier in
this article was fined over 5,000 for allowing
free-flying birds to escape. The owner shot a
number of the free-flying birds when
informed he was being investigated, but was
still prosecuted for allowing birds to escape
during the previous few years. This is a rare

Roberto Zaffi

103. Hybrid Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus x African Spoonbill Platalea alba, Punte Alberete,
Po Delta, Italy, August 2008. Ringed as a pullus in 2008 in the Valle Mandriole reserve near Ravenna,
this bird was seen up to 2010 at least. No hybrids have been observed in western France, where
Sacred Ibises and Eurasian Spoonbills P. leucorodia can share the same colony but differ in the
timing of breeding.

British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212 209

 Ysou et al.
Richard Chandler
104. Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus, Cley, Norfolk, June 2012. Such birds are reported not
infrequently in the UK, and may originate either from non-native populations on the Continent,
most likely France, or from collections closer to home.
example of the enforcement of legislation to
prevent non-native species becoming estab-
lished, and shows just how seriously the
potential threat from this species was consid-
ered to be.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the many observers, too
numerous to mention individually, who assisted and
monitored this programme, and the conservation
societies and institutions who have provided
information for the risk assessment process. We also
thank ONCFS environment officers and staff for their
ongoing involvement in the implementation of the
eradication programme, and in particular Dominique
Aribert (now at LPO, BirdLife partner in France), Jean-
Marc Cugnasse, Louis-Grard dEscrienne, Denis
Lacourpaille, Jean-Baptiste Mouronval and Luc Simon.
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Pierre Ysou, ONCFS, Cellule technique Bretagne et Pays de la Loire, CS 42355, 44323
Nantes cedex 3, France; e-mail p.yesou@gmail.com
Philippe Clergeau, UMR CESCO, Dpartement Ecologie et gestion de la Biodiversit,
Musum National dHistoire Naturelle, 55 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France
Suzanne Bastian, Dpartement de Sant des Animaux dElevage et Sant Publique, UMR 1300
Oniris/INRA Biologie Epidmiologie et Analyse de Risques, CS 40706, 44307 Nantes cedex,
France
Sbastien Reeber, Rserve naturelle nationale du Lac de Grand-Lieu, Socit Nationale de Protection
de la Nature, La Chausse, 44830 Bouaye, France
Jean-Franois Maillard, ONCFS, Direction de la recherche et de lexpertise, 5 rue de Saint-Thibaud,
Domaine de Saint-Benot, 78610 Auffargis, France

Pierre Ysou has had a long career in the study of waterbirds, particularly shearwaters and gulls, and the
conservation of their habitats. Recently retired, he continues to act as an environmental advisor. Philippe
Clergeau is Professor at the Natural History Museum in Paris. He previously conducted research at INRA,
working on invasive species, their impact (especially in agricultural systems) and management. Current research
interests include urban biodiversity and ecological landscape planning. Suzanne Bastian is a Senior Lecturer at
ONIRIS, the National Veterinary School in Nantes and a researcher in biology, epidemiology and risk analysis
on animal health, studying both wild and domestic species. Sbastien Reeber is in charge of scientific research,
in particular bird surveys, for Socit Nationale de Protection de la Nature at the Grand-Lieu reserve, which
hosts the largest colony of Sacred Ibises in France. Jean-Franois Maillard coordinates the work on alien invasive
species at ONCFS, focusing on mammals and birds, and he contributes to the formulation of national policy.
Regarding the Sacred Ibis, he supervises the implementation of decisions made by the Ministry of Environment.

Request
William MacGillivrays History of British Birds have you seen this?
In 1924 the London booksellers Henry Sotheran issued for sale a catalogue of the books that had
belonged to Major W. H. Mullens, the leading ornithological bibliographer of the time. Among
the items being offered was a unique set of the first three volumes of William MacGillivrays
History of British Birds (issued in 1837, 1839 & 1840). What made this set special is that it was
MacGillivrays personal set, containing a great amount of fresh information in the authors own
handwriting throughout the three volumes, but more so in Vols. 1 and 3. The text has not only
been corrected by a matter of single words, writers and printers errors, etc., but whole passages
have been cancelled and fresh material substituted in the margins. In addition many leaves and
slips have been loosely pasted in, filled with extra material, the whole being in MacGillivrays
handwriting and obviously intended for an enlarged and revised edition.
Alan Knox (a.g.knox@abdn.ac.uk) has been working on MacGillivray for some time now and
would like to locate these volumes if possible. It is not known who Sotheran sold them to and
they may now be in private hands or in a library.

212 British Birds 110 April 2017 197 212

Dark-breasted Barn Owl
breeding in Cheshire &
Wirral in 2014
Steve Binney and Peter Coffey

Ben Green
Dark-breasted Barn Owl Tyto alba guttata

Abstract A female Dark-breasted Barn Owl Tyto alba guttata was found
breeding with a male of the nominate subspecies T. a. alba at a site in Cheshire &
Wirral in May 2014. Three eggs were laid, from which two chicks hatched and
fledged. The female showed all the plumage features associated with Dark-
breasted Barn Owl and the record was accepted by BBRC. The two chicks are
described and compared with the adults. This is only the second record of Dark-
breasted Barn Owl breeding in Britain.

W
hile checking Barn Owl nestboxes
at Brimstage, Cheshire & Wirral,
on 10th July 2013, we trapped and
ringed a non-breeding male Barn Owl Tyto
alba of the nominate form T. a. alba (here-
after alba). A year later, on a routine evening
visit to the same box, on 21st May 2014, it
was found to be occupied by a pair of adult
Barn Owls, and contained one recently
hatched chick and two eggs. The male was
the same individual trapped the previous
year, but the female was unringed and
distinctly darker in appearance than the
male. The female was trapped and ringed and
its plumage was examined in detail to deter-
mine whether it matched the criteria for
Dark-breasted Barn Owl T. a. guttata (here-
after guttata). In recent years, Merseyside
Ringing Group has handled over 400 adult
Barn Owls at nestboxes and occasionally a
darker female has been caught but until this
point none had displayed the intensity and
extent of dark pigmentation to be considered
a putative guttata.

British Birds 110 April 2017 213 221 213

Binney & Coffey

Description of the
Brimstage bird and
comparison with
nominate alba
Information on the key character-
istics for identifying guttata was
obtained from Colin Shawyer,
founder and coordinator of the
Barn Owl Conservation Network
(pers. comm.), together with the
criteria set out in French (2009).
This confirmed that the Brimstage
female was indeed guttata; the
record was submitted to BBRC
and subsequently accepted (Brit.
Birds 109: 599).
In this paper the Brimstage
guttata is compared with a typical
female alba encountered in the
study area. All images of guttata
are of the female at Brimstage on
21st May 2014, while the images of
alba show a ringed female at

Steve Binney
Saughall Massie, Cheshire &
Wirral, on 4th July 2016. All visits
to Barn Owl nestboxes and the
handling of adults and chicks were
carried out by ringers holding
valid BTO ringing permits and
Schedule 1 licences.
There are no known biometric
differences between the subspecies.
No shed feathers were found in the
nest so molecular analysis was not
possible (although Aliabadian et al.
(2016) suggested that alba and
guttata may not be reciprocally
monophyletic and thus genetic
material would be of limited use in
identifying an individual to a sub-
species). The key characteristics for
identifying guttata are differences
in plumage, and these are
described and illustrated for the
Brimstage bird here.

105 & 106. Female Dark-breasted

Barn Owl Tyto alba guttata,
Brimstage, Cheshire & Wirral, 21st
May 2014. The dark buff underparts
Steve Binney

and sides of the head of the guttata

contrast markedly with the pale
buff or whitish plumage of
nominate alba (plate 105).

214 British Birds 110 April 2017 213 221

 Dark-breasted Barn Owl breeding in Cheshire & Wirral
Peter Coffey
107. Female Barn Owl Tyto a. alba, Saughall Massie,
Cheshire & Wirral, 4th July 2016.
Steve Binney
108 & 109. The facial disc of the Brimstage guttata (left) and nominate alba, showing extensive
dark markings around the eyes of the former, spreading out across the facial disc.
British Birds 110 April 2017 213 221
Underparts
The Brimstage guttata showed dark
buff coloration to the sides of the
head and across the underparts. This
included the underwing-coverts and
importantly for identification as
guttata the belly, legs and feet (plates
105110). The buff coloration was
uniform in intensity, with extensive
dark freckling throughout.
Both females illustrated here show
extensive dark freckling on the side of
the head, the breast and underwing-
coverts, and down to the legs. In the
female alba, the light buff coloration
to the side of the head loses its inten-
sity and it becomes patchy on the
breast and flanks, while the belly and
legs are white.
Facial disc
The facial disc of the Brimstage guttata
was buff, with darker feathering radi-
ating out from around the eyes, while
the edge of the facial disc was darker
and more pronounced than that of
alba. By contrast, the facial disc of a
typical alba is predominantly white
with limited darker feathering around
the eyes (plates 108 & 109).
Peter Coffey
215
 Binney & Coffey
Steve Binney

Steve Binney
110 & 111. Profile and upperparts of the Brimstage female guttata, showing extensive grey
markings over the entire upperparts, with more grey than buff visible.

Upperparts more grey than buff visible, was completely

The richer, more saturated coloration of the different from the pallid appearance of a
Brimstage guttata, with extensive grey mark- typical alba (plates 110113).
ings over the entire upperparts, with clearly
Peter Coffey

Peter Coffey

112 & 113. Profile and upperparts of nominate alba, which are strikingly pallid compared with
guttata.

216 British Birds 110 April 2017 213 221

 Dark-breasted Barn Owl breeding in Cheshire & Wirral
Karen Binney
114 & 115. The crown pattern of the Brimstage guttata (left) and nominate alba, showing the
predominantly grey crown of the former.
Crown
The crown feathers of the Brimstage female
guttata were almost completely marbled with
grey, extending across the rear crown and
onto the nape (plate 114). In contrast, the
alba female shows less dense grey marbling
on the crown, which becomes more frag-
mented to the rear (plate 115).
Upperwing pattern
The upperwing of the Brimstage guttata
showed a rich, reddish-brown colour, almost
a pale mahogany, in the dark outer webs of
the primaries and secondaries, and the wing-
coverts were dark grey rather than the burnt
ochre or golden bronze on the upperwing of
a typical nominate alba (plates 116 & 117). In
addition, the cross-barring was bolder and
more extensive, particularly so in the two
outermost primaries (P9 and P10), these
feathers being retained juvenile primaries
(see Moult below).
Moult and ageing
Barn Owls moult primaries inwardly and
outwardly from the centre of the feather
tract, with each moult cycle lasting up to
several years. The Brimstage female was
moulting some flight feathers during incuba-
tion. Plate 116 shows that primaries P4 and
British Birds 110 April 2017 213 221
Peter Coffey
P8 (numbered descendantly, i.e. P10 is the
outermost) were still growing in May 2014,
while the barring on P5 and P6 was a lighter
shade of grey, indicating that these feathers
would have been replaced the previous year.
In addition, P9 and P10 are juvenile feathers,
being slightly more brownish-grey in hue
and more pointed in shape; and these
confirm that the Brimstage female guttata
was in its third calendar-year (i.e. hatched in
2012).
Description of the chicks
From the three eggs laid, two chicks hatched
and both fledged successfully. In the early
stages of chick development, extensive downy
feathering obscured many features but at 40
43 days old the emerging wing feathers of
one chick showed some guttata features
(plates 118 & 119). For example, the outer
webs had a deeper, more mahogany-coloured
pigmentation, the sheaths of the emerging
feathers appeared to be reddish (rather than
buff as in the other chick) and dark grey and
white flecking was visible at the tips of pri-
maries, secondaries, and wing-coverts, a
characteristic feature of the female guttata
parent.
Photographs when the chicks were 6568
days old show that one chick had a darker
217
 Binney & Coffey
Karen Binney
Peter Coffey
116 & 117. The upperwing pattern of the Brimstage guttata (upper) and nominate alba (lower),
showing bold dark bars across the two outermost (unmoulted juvenile) primaries and rich reddish-
brown colour of the outer webs of guttata.
facial disc compared with its sibling,
including a general discoloration, more
extensive and darker feathering around the
eyes and more pronounced dark tips at the
edge of the facial disc (plates 120123). In
addition, the crown feathers appeared to
show more extensive and darker grey than
those of the other chick and the feathers at
the side of the head a slightly deeper buff,
with dark freckles.
The underparts revealed that the darker
chick had buff on the underwing-coverts and
quite extensive dark freckling, prominent on
the flanks and underwing (plate 122). Both
218
chicks showed buffish coloration on the
breast and, most importantly, a white belly
and legs, not found in guttata (French 2009).
Unfortunately, photographs of the chicks
wings at this stage of development are not
available.
Both chicks would be sexed as females
in broods with alba parents but a lack of
i n for m a t i on on ch i ck s of m i xe d
guttata/alba pairings, coupled with the
fact that the underparts of both sexes of
guttata are liberally spotted, means that it
i s p er h a p s b e s t to l e ave t h e ch i ck s
unsexed.
British Birds 110 April 2017 213 221
 Dark-breasted Barn Owl breeding in Cheshire & Wirral

Steve Binney
118 & 119. Spread wing of Barn Owl Tyto alba
chicks, from the mixed guttata x alba pairing, at
Brimstage, Cheshire & Wirral, on 30th June 2014
Steve Binney

(chick age 4043 days). The emerging wing

feathers of the right-hand bird show some
characteristics of guttata.

Research in central Europe has shown that Hoffmann 2002).

mixed pairings may produce offspring that
resemble pure individuals of either sub-
species (Mtics & Hoffmann 2002), while a
pair of apparently pure alba nesting in Devon
produced dark-breasted offspring (French
2006). One of the two Brimstage chicks
showed some characteristics of guttata, but
clearly was not a pure individual of that sub-
species.
Both chicks were ringed but at the time
of writing neither has yet been retrapped, so
their adult plumage remains unknown. The
darker chick might prove to be an inter-
esting challenge for birdwatchers in the
field.
Possible origin of the Brimstage
guttata
Nominate alba is restricted to western and
southern Europe and North Africa while
guttata, is found mainly in central and
eastern Europe. The 3C January isotherm
marks the approximate division between the
two subspecies in Europe, with nominate to
the west of this line and guttata to the east
(Hagemeijer & Blair 1997). A zone of
intergradation is found in areas where the
two come into contact and variable birds
with intermediate characters are found in
(for example) northern and eastern France,
Belgium, the southern Netherlands, western
Germany, central Switzerland, Hungary and
into the central Balkans (BWP; Mtics &
Of the 19 foreign-ringed Barn Owls that
have been recovered or controlled in the UK,
ten originated from the Netherlands, five
from Germany, three from Belgium and one
from Denmark (Robinson et al. 2016; Jacquie
Clark pers. comm.). Most were found in the
eastern counties from Kent north to North-
east Scotland, Highland and Orkney. Some
moved much farther west, with two reaching
Cornwall, and singles in Somerset, Worces-
tershire, and Argyll & Bute. All had been
ringed as nestlings and 15 were recovered
between October and April and within 12
months of hatching. Of the remainder, three
were found dead in the spring of their third
calendar-year. Of particular interest was a
ringed female guttata discovered breeding
with a male alba in Norfolk in June 2008,
which became a traffic casualty in July of that
year, close to the nesting site (Brit. Birds 102:
565566; Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists
Society 2009; Shawyer pers. comm.). This
was the first record of guttata breeding in the
UK; it had been ringed as a chick in the
Netherlands in 2007 from a breeding pair of
guttata.
As noted earlier, based on the extent of
primary moult the Brimstage female guttata
was in her third calendar-year. Barn Owls
typically breed from their second calendar-
year onwards. From the evidence of ring-
recoveries, it is most likely that she would
have crossed into Britain within 12 months

British Birds 110 April 2017 213 221 219

 Binney & Coffey
Steve Binney

Steve Binney
Steve Binney

Steve Binney

120 123. The Brimstage chicks on 24th July 2014 (chick age 6568 days). The darker chick (two
left images) shows some guttata characteristics, whereas the paler chick (two right images) appears
similar to a typical alba.

of hatching, in the autumn of 2012 or early
in 2013. Although a captive origin or release
is possible, the bird showed no signs of
having been held in captivity. The release of
subspecies and mixed subspecies (Colin
Shawyer pers. comm.) of Barn Owl in the
1980s and 1990s resulted in their being
placed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and
Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). The
keeper of any bird of a species that lives in
the wild has to be able to show that the bird
is held lawfully (i.e. captive-bred) and a
licence would be required to release the bird.
Natural Resources Wales and Natural
England confirmed that the Brimstage bird
was not a release licensed by them, or an acci-
dental escapee reported to them, during the
relevant time period (July 2012 to May
2014). Based on this evidence, a captive
origin seems highly unlikely.

220 British Birds 110 April 2017 213 221

 Dark-breasted Barn Owl breeding in Cheshire & Wirral

Acknowledgments V., & Roulin, A. 2016. Phylogeny, biogeography, and

Special thanks go to Colin Shawyer for his helpful
advice and comments upon which much of this article
is based. Thanks also to Stephen Menzie, who provided
constructive comments and guidance on the draft
manuscript. Leverhulme Estates and associated tenant
farmers and gamekeepers have supported Merseyside
Ringing Group activity on their land, including the
Brimstage site, for many years their help and
cooperation is greatly appreciated. Schedule 1 licences
and ringing permits were issued by the BTO Ringing
Scheme, which is funded by a partnership of the BTO,
the JNCC (on behalf of: Natural England, Natural
Resources Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage and the
Department of the Environment Northern Ireland), the
National Parks & Wildlife Service (Ireland) and the
ringers themselves.
References
Aliabadian, M., Alaei-Kakhki, N., Mirshamsi, O., Nijman,
diversification of Barn Owls (Aves: Strigiformes).
Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 119: 904918.
French, P. R. 2006. Dark-breasted Barn Owl in Devon.
Brit. Birds 99: 210211.
2009. Identification of Dark-breasted Barn Owl in
Britain. Brit. Birds 102: 494503.
Hagemeijer, W. J. M., & Blair, M. J. (eds.). 1997. The EBCC
Atlas of European Breeding Birds: their distribution and
abundance. Poyser, London.
Mtics, R., & Hoffmann, G. 2002. Location of the
transition zone of the Barn Owl subspecies Tyto
alba alba and Tyto alba guttata (Strigiformes:
Tytonidae). Acta Zool. Cracoviensia. 45(2): 245250.
Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists Society. 2009. Barn
Owl, p. 113. Norfolk Bird & Mammal Report 2008.
Robinson, R. A., Leech, D. I., & Clark, J. A. 2016. The
Online Demography Report: Bird ringing and nest
recording in Britain & Ireland in 2015. BTO,
Thetford. (Downloaded from www.bto.org/ringing-
report on 11th August 2016.)

Steve Binney, 1 Heather Bank, Higher Bebington, Wirral, Merseyside CH63 5NZ;
e-mail thosedozycrows@aol.com
Peter Coffey, 19 Heath Lane, Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire CH66 5NN;
e-mail peter.coffey@zen.co.uk

Steve Binney has been ringing birds with Merseyside Ringing Group since 1992. His main interests are
raptors and owls, which he rings in Merseyside and Cheshire. He has also been involved in a long-term study
of Northern Goshawks in mid Wales since 1995. Peter Coffey joined Merseyside Ringing Group in 1981.
His interests include waders and long-term studies of Pied Flycatchers in north Wales and Common Terns
at Shotton, Flintshire. He has also collaborated with Liverpool University on the occurrence of Campylobacter
spp. and Escherichia coli (E. coli) virulence genes in wild bird populations.

Letters
St Leonards-on-Sea: the town that time forgot
Who would have thought it that when
Norman, the Red-footed Booby Sula sula,
appeared in Sussex at St Leonards-on-Sea
(e.g. Brit. Birds 109: 694) in September 2016,
later to be flown home after recovery with
the RSPCA (bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-
sussex-38346382), that not a Hastings
Rarity word was mentioned, in British Birds
or elsewhere. Thankfully, Red-footed Booby
was not a species that passed through the
hands of the infamous George Bristow in the
early decades of the twentieth century or
where would we be now?

Julian G. Greenwood, 4 Osborne Drive, Bangor, Co. Down BT20 3DH;

e-mail juliangreenwood500@gmail.com

British Birds 110 April 2017 213 221 221

Phenotypic characteristics
of Common Buzzards on
Fuerteventura
Guillermo Rodrguez, Juan Ramrez and
Javier Elorriaga
Abstract The Common Buzzards Buteo buteo lanzarotae from Fuerteventura, in
the Canary Islands, are distinctive. This taxon resembles Long-legged Buzzard B.
rufinus but also shows some plumage traits consistent with Common Buzzard B.
buteo. We describe the plumage of lanzarotae, and highlight features that separate
it from Common Buzzards in the western Canary Islands and from North African
Long-legged Buzzard B. r. cirtensis. We suggest that the appearance of lanzarotae
may be the product of a past hybridisation event and also that currently accepted
records of Long-legged Buzzard in the Canary Islands are in fact lanzarotae.

I
n Macaronesia, buzzards are represented
by the Common Buzzard Buteo buteo,
which includes endemic taxa on each
archipelago, and Long-legged Buzzard Buteo
rufinus, which is currently accepted as a
vagrant to the Canary Islands (Garcia-del-
Rey & Garcia Vargas 2013). Common Buz-
zards from the Azores (B. b. rothschildi),
Madeira (B. b. harterti), and the western
Canary Islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La
Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro (B. b. insu-
larum) are all similar to nominate buteo, and
probably not safely separable on field views
alone, although they tend to be smaller and
shorter-winged (Ferguson-Lees & Christie
2001). Juveniles tend to be pale, sometimes
strikingly so, recalling pale-morph buteo
from northern Europe (e.g. plate 125). Adults
are generally more extensively brown, with a
variable degree of pale patterning below,
sometimes rather extensive; typically, they
match nominate buteo from northern/central
Europe in the extent of dark markings. It was
suggested by James (1984) that, on this basis,
the founding individuals of these popula-
tions might have been migrants from
northern or eastern Europe; birds breeding in
southern Europe tend to be more uniformly
brown with fewer pale markings below.
Genetic studies have found little divergence
between these insular taxa and nominate
buteo (Harring 1999; Krukenhauser 2004),
and their validity has been questioned (e.g.
Forsman 2016).
Birds in the Cape Verde archipelago, Cape
Verde Buzzard B. bannermani, are likewise
similar to nominate buteo in structure and
plumage, including an overall uniform dark
brown coloration, and typically show narrow
barring to the belly (plate 127). In general,
this population exhibits less plumage vari-
ability than other Macaronesian taxa.
However, a phylogenetic study suggested that
bannermani shows a significant degree of
genetic differentiation from nominate buteo
and is genetically closer to Long-legged
Buzzard (Clouet & Wink 2000). Conse-
quently, bannermani is currently in a state of
taxonomic flux, treated variously as a sub-
species of Common Buzzard (e.g. Crochet &
Joynt 2015, Orta et al. 2017), a subspecies of
Long-legged Buzzard (e.g. Dickinson &
Remsen 2013), or a monotypic species (e.g.
Porter & Kirwan 2010, Clements et al. 2016,
Gill & Donsker 2017).
In the midst of these disputed taxa, the

222 British Birds 110 April 2017 222 232


124. Adult Common Buzzard Buteo buteo insularum, Tenerife, Canary Islands, January 2008. A typical
western Canary Islands adult, not separable from nominate buteo in the field.
buzzards from the eastern Canary Islands
(Fuerteventura, and formerly also Lanzarote
and nearby islets) have gone surprisingly
unremarked, despite their distinctive appear-
ance. They differ from nominate buteo and
from other Macaronesian taxa in both
plumage and structure, and in many respects
are more similar to North African Long-
legged Buzzard B. r. cirtensis. This geograph-
ical variation from other subspecies was
noted previously by Polatzek (1908) who, in
the first published study of the Canary
Islands avifauna, described the buzzards of
the eastern islands as B. b. lanzarotae. Ban-
nerman (1963) did not recognise this taxon
in his Birds of the Atlantic Islands and lan-
zarotae has subsequently disappeared from
the literature. All buzzards resident on the
Canary Islands are currently considered to be
insularum.
Here, we present an overview of the phe-
notypic characteristics of the eastern Canary
Islands birds, and discuss briefly the implica-
tions of our findings. Hereafter, we refer to
them as Fuerteventura Buzzard or lan-
zarotae, with insularum reserved for the
Common Buzzards inhabiting the western
Canary Islands and buteo for the nominate
subspecies. Our observations are based on
British Birds 110 April 2017 222 232
Common Buzzards on Fuerteventura
Beneharo Rodrguez
field experience from the Azores, Madeira,
and the Canary Islands. Between 2013 and
2015, JR trapped 12 Fuerteventura Buzzards,
which were examined in the hand. In addi-
tion, we have studied images of birds from
Fuerteventura (roughly 20 individuals), the
western Canary Islands (30), Madeira (10),
Azores (12) and Cape Verde (4).
Distribution and population size
The breeding range of lanzarotae is cur-
rently restricted to Fuerteventura, although it
formerly bred on Lanzarote (where the type
specimen was taken) and nearby islets such
as Alegranza and La Graciosa. Buzzards were
always rare on Lanzarote, with only two pairs
found by Bannerman in 1913 (Bannerman
1914) and just a few individuals noted by
Volse in 1947 (Volse 1950). The popula-
tion became extinct on the island during the
1960s (Trotter 1970). On Fuerteventura, lan-
zarotae appears to have been rare during the
first decade of the twentieth century
(Polatzek 1908; Bannerman 1914). In 1983,
78 pairs were recorded (Emmerson 1983),
but since then the population has increased,
with 1520 pairs in 1988 (Quilis et al. 1993)
and an estimated minimum of 8590 pairs
in 2000 (Palacios 2005). This increase is
223
 Rodrguez et al.
Beneharo Rodrguez
125. Juvenile Common Buzzard Buteo buteo insularum, Tenerife, Canary Islands, March 2012.
A western Canary Islands juvenile, showing the classic pale plumage that recalls northern rather
than southern populations of Common Buzzard, which tend to be more uniformly dark.
probably related to the availability of an
important food source, Barbary Ground
Squirrel Atlantoxerus getulus, which was
introduced to Fuerteventura in the second
half of the twentieth century. More recently,
supplementary feeding stations, part of a
conservation programme for the local popu-
lation of Egyptian Vulture Neophron perc-
nopterus majorensis, have probably also
benefited the Buzzards.
The timing of breeding is similar to that
of birds in the western Canary Islands, with
most chicks hatching by late February or
early March (pers. obs.), roughly two months
earlier than Common Buzzards on the
Iberian Peninsula. The taxon appears to be
largely resident in Fuerteventura, and is
rarely seen in Lanzarote despite the close
proximity of the two islands.
Size and structure
In the field, Fuerteventura Buzzards appear
large and powerful, recalling North African
Long-legged Buzzard. There is substantial
overlap between lanzarotae and insularum/
buteo in most measurements except weight
(table 1). From 12 individuals measured,
lanzarotae is rather similar in size to nomi-
224
nate buteo, though averaging slightly shorter-
winged and shorter-tailed. These differences
match birds from Socotra (Socotra Buzzard
B. socotraensis) and Cape Verde (Porter &
Kirwan 2010), and probably other island
buzzard populations too. (The tendency
towards a more compact structure is usually
associated with the loss of the migratory
behaviour in insular bird populations; Ferrer
et al. 2011.)
For their size, Fuerteventura Buzzards are
remarkably heavy: males and females are
around 28% and 36% heavier respectively
than male and female buteo from Spain, with
no overlap recorded. The weight of lan-
zarotae is thus closer to that of Long-legged
Buzzard. This considerable weight is usually
noticeable in the field and lanzarotae
appears heavy, with a bulky body. The taxon
also shows a proportionally more powerful
bill and, especially, claws, which further
enhances the similarity with Long-legged
Buzzard.
Plumage
Fuerteventura Buzzards are generally distinct
compared with nominate buteo or insularum.
Some birds are very similar to the brown
British Birds 110 April 2017 222 232
 Common Buzzards on Fuerteventura

Table 1. Morphometric measurements of Fuerteventura Buzzard Buteo buteo lanzarotae

(unpublished data, this study) and comparison with other Buteo taxa (from Zuberogoitia et al.
2005 and Porter & Kirwan 2010). Values in parentheses show mean standard deviation;
otherwise, the range is given, with sample size in italics if available. In spite of the extensive
overlap in most characters, the insular taxa show shorter tail and especially wings than nominate
buteo. Fuerteventura Buzzards are noticeably heavier than nominate buteo, on average up to 28%
(males) and 36% (females) heavier and with no overlap in the measurements. It would be
interesting to compare lanzarotae with data for North African Long-legged Buzzard B. rufinus
cirtensis, but published data for the latter are not available. Some of the data below must be
considered with caution, given the small sample.
sex wing length tail length tarsus weight source
(mm) (mm) (mm) (g)

Fuerteventura M (n=4) 327360 180201 75.476.9 760920 this study

Buzzard (354 19) (192 11) (76.7 1.3) (855 79)
B. b. lanzarotae F (n=7) 355386 186220 76.981.6 1,0401,220
(374 10) (200 9) (78.7 2.2) (1,094 66)

Common Buzzard M 350412 194223 6983 Porter &

nominate buteo F 374432 193236 Kirwan
(2010)

Common Buzzard M (382 27) 56 (222 12) 32 (75 4) 32 (666 72) 23 Zuberogoitia
nominate buteo F (400 15) 53 (229 10) 26 (73 2) 26 (800 67) 30 et al. (2005)

Long-legged Buzzard M 345384 188197 7279 Porter &

B. r. cirtensis F 380425 196201 (both sexes) Kirwan
(2010)

Cape Verde Buzzard F (n=2) 367385 177194 7475 Porter &

B. bannermani Kirwan
(2010)

morph of Long-legged Buzzard. In most
individuals, the upperparts are uniformly
brown, with broad, well-defined rufous
fringes to the mantle and scapulars in fresh
plumage. These plumage features are also
found in Long-legged Buzzard and noted by
Rodrguez et al. (2013) as diagnostic for sepa-
ration from Common Buzzard.
A few individuals show a white patch at
the base of the inner primaries on the upper-
wing, forming a weak white flash in the wing,
similar to that shown by Steppe Buzzard B. b.
vulpinus and Long-legged Buzzard but rarely
present in nominate buteo or insularum. The
head is usually paler than the body, showing
brownish lines behind the eye and gape (plate
128), reminiscent of Long-legged Buzzard.
Some birds also show a dark patch on the
nape. The plumage of lanzarotae is subjected
to bleaching in the strong sun and thus prone
to marked plumage abrasion. As a result,
recently moulted feathers stand out as con-
trastingly dark among the overall sandy
ground colour of the older feathers, often
leading to a patchy appearance (plate 126).
The underwing is variably pale but usually
with solid dark carpal patches. The under-
wing-covert pattern, considered the most reli-
able feature for separating Long-legged and
Common Buzzards in the field (Rodrguez et
al. 2013), is intermediate between the two
species: Long-legged Buzzard shows a
uniform underwing, while Common Buzzard
shows a marked contrast between dark lesser
coverts and paler median coverts, which
creates a dark triangle at the leading edge of
the wing at a distance. Fuerteventura Buzzard
usually shows a rather uniform underwing,
closer to that of Long-legged Buzzard; a few
birds show some contrast between the lesser
and median coverts, although as far as we
know never matching the striking pattern

British Birds 110 April 2017 222 232 225

 Rodrguez et al.
Juan Sagarda
126. Adult Fuerteventura Buzzard Buteo buteo
lanzarotae, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, June
2004. A typical adult, showing strong claws and
aggressive appearance, quite different from the
bird in plate 124.
typical of Common Buzzard.
The underparts are generally uniform,
although sometimes a pale bib is apparent, as
in nominate buteo. Some individuals show a
pale creamy head and breast, and an exten-
sive dark brown patch extending down to the
belly, closely resembling some Long-legged
Buzzards. A few bird are rufous-tinged,
recalling the rufous morph of Long-legged
Buzzard (Rodrguez et al. 2013).
The barred, dull brown tail is similar to
that of nominate buteo, though generally
with finer barring in both adult and juvenile
plumages (plate 130). Some individuals show
a pale orange tinge to the tail, yet the pattern
differs from the whitish and often translucent
tail of adult Long-legged Buzzard.
The mixed features of Common and
Long-legged Buzzard found in lanzarotae
lead to a remarkable similarity with the buz-
zards from the population along the
southern shores of the Strait of Gibraltar (the
so-called Gibraltar Buzzards, which are con-
sidered hybrid Common Long-legged Buz-
zards; Rodr guez et al. 2013) especially
those in juvenile plumage (plates 134 137).
226
Dominic Mitchell
127. Adult Cape Verde Buzzard Buteo
bannermani, Cape Verde, March 2009. This taxon
is quite similar overall to nominate buteo; note
the homogeneous dark bib contrasting with a
finely barred belly typical of this species.
Moult
Our observations show that moult can take
place throughout the year. From an analysis
of the moult state of seven immature birds,
we found that Fuerteventura Buzzards moult
between nine and 13 primaries per wing
during the first year of moult (from the
spring of their second calendar-year to the
spring of their third calendar-year). For
example, we have recorded 2CY birds with
three primaries moulted in May when
nominate buteo Common Buzzards usually
start moulting; eight primaries replaced and
P9 growing in August; and 3CY individuals
moulting P2 (for the second time) in
January, and P5 in May. (Note that a moult of
13 primaries implies that all ten are moulted
once, with the inner three moulted a second
time.) This represents a remarkably fast and
extensive moult compared with 610 and 67
primaries typically moulted during the same
period by Long-legged and Common
Buzzard respectively (Zuberogoitia et al.
2005; Rodrguez et al. 2013). The speed of the
moult and the prolonged moulting period
probably represents an adaptation against
British Birds 110 April 2017 222 232
 Common Buzzards on Fuerteventura

Juan Sagarda
128. Adult Fuerteventura Buzzard Buteo buteo lanzarotae, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, June
2004. The Fuerteventura birds show several plumage characters reminiscent of North African
Long-legged Buzzard B. rufinus cirtensis: chocolate brown above contrasting with pale head, the
presence of dark/ brownish eye- and gape-lines, and a neat pale breast contrasting with broad
brown band on the belly.

increased abrasion of feathers in an arid, wing and tail feathers.

dusty environment, and perhaps also the
relatively low seasonality of the climate. The Vagrant Buzzards in the Canary
commonly ground-dwelling habits of these Islands
birds may also lead to heavier wear of the There are currently three accepted records of

Francisco Jimnez Casares

129. Adult North African Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus cirtensis, Bouarfa, Morocco, May 2013.
A classic desert cirtensis: note the similarities in plumage with the bird in plate 128, but also note the
more slender and elegant silhouette of North African Long-legged Buzzard, with the wing-tip extending
beyond the tail-tip, compared with the more compact Fuerteventura Buzzard B. buteo lanzarotae.

British Birds 110 April 2017 222 232 227

 Rodrguez et al.
Juan Ramrez

Juan Ramrez
130 & 131. Fuerteventura Buzzards Buteo buteo lanzarotae, juvenile (left) and adult (right),
Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, June 2012. The tail pattern of Fuerteventura Buzzard is similar to that
of nominate buteo, although with slightly narrower barring; the tail is always darker than the pale tail
of North African Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus cirtensis (just visible in plate 129).

Long-legged Buzzard from Fuerteventura, Fuerteventura, mostly as a result of confusion

and a few other published records that were
not formally assessed (de Juana 2006; Garcia-
del-Rey & Garcia Vargas 2013). In fact, Long-
legged Buzzard is claimed annually from
Miguel Angel Pea
with lanzarotae. However, we have reviewed
photographs and/or descriptions of the
accepted records, and they appear to be
misidentified lanzarotae. Therefore, to our

132. Adult Fuerteventura Buzzard Buteo buteo lanzarotae, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, February
2016. Bird showing contrasting white band on breast, reminiscent of nominate buteo.

228 British Birds 110 April 2017 222 232


133. Adult Fuerteventura Buzzard Buteo buteo lanzarotae, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands,
December 2011. Another individual very similar to North African Long-legged Buzzard B. rufinus
cirtensis, with rather uniform underwing-coverts, well-marked dark carpals and dark belly patch.
knowledge, there are no reliable recent
records of Long-legged Buzzard in the
Canary Islands.
Occasionally, buzzards showing characters
recalling cirtensis/lanzarotae have been
observed in the western Canary Islands, and
in Madeira and the Azores. Whether these
birds are aberrant individuals, vagrants
(either from Fuerteventura or North Africa)
or simply the consequence of some gene flow
among the different archipelagos is still
unknown. In addition, we note that the
buzzards of Gran Canaria show a structure
reminiscent of lanzarotae, including a pro-
portionally large bill and claws, pale under-
parts, a dark carpal patch, and dark eye- and
gape-lines. The proximity of Gran Canaria to
Fuerteventura (around 85 km) may permit a
very low level of dispersal from Fuerteven-
tura. This hypothesis is speculative, however,
and more detailed studies are needed to fully
understand the degree of variation within
Macaronesia.
Nominate/insularum-type Common Buz-
zards are rare in the eastern Canary Islands,
and it is likely that the few vagrants that do
occur originate from the western Canary
Islands. This may not always have been the
case, since Common Buzzards from north-
east Europe (mainly from the vulpinus/buteo
intergrade zone) were formerly regular
migrants through Gibraltar and in winter in
Morocco, at least until the 1970s (Martin et
al. 2014; Bensusan & Perez 2016), potentially
British Birds 110 April 2017 222 232
Common Buzzards on Fuerteventura
Yeray Seminario
resulting in some vagrants to the Canary
Islands. Common Buzzards are now much
rarer on passage through Gibraltar and in
winter in Morocco. Nominate/insularum-
type birds have not been recorded breeding
on the eastern Canary Islands and appear to
occur only as vagrants that either perish or
move on again.
In addition to natural vagrants, six nomi-
nate Common Buzzards from central Spain
were introduced to Fuerteventura in about
1978 by the Spanish Institute for Nature
Conservation (ICONA) in an attempt to
control the growing population of Barbary
Ground Squirrels. Four of these birds were
found exhausted and taken back to conti-
nental Spain (Palacios 2005). The fate of the
other two is unknown.
Discussion
The phenotypic similarity of lanzarotae to
Long-legged Buzzard and the differences
from insularum might imply a closer rela-
tionship with the former than the latter. Yet
some features of lanzarotae are more typical
of Common Buzzard, notably the pattern of
the tail and the underwing-coverts, and some
individuals closely resemble insularum. These
mixed characteristics perhaps suggest that
lanzarotae is the result of a historical
hybridisation event between Common
Buzzard and North African Long-legged
Buzzard. Similar events elsewhere in Europe
have been well documented (Corso 2009;
229
 Rodrguez et al.
Yeray Seminario

Javier Elorriaga
134 & 135. Juvenile Fuerteventura Buzzard Buteo buteo lanzarotae, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands,
March 2012 (left), and juvenile Gibraltar Buzzard B. b. buteo x B. rufinus cirtensis, Tetouan, Morocco,
September 2012. Note obvious similarities between these birds, both showing mixed features of
Common and Long-legged Buzzard. Tail barring is usually broader in Fuerteventura Buzzard than in
Gibraltar Buzzard.

Elorriaga & Roman Munoz 2013; Rodrguez
et al. 2013) and given rise to phenotypically
similar birds (plates 134 137). Elsewhere,
other buzzard taxa have been reported as
having arisen through hybridisation: in
Porter & Kirwans (2010) study of Socotra
Buzzard, it is suggested that socotraensis may
have arisen through a hybridisation event
between Long-legged Buzzard and Steppe
Buzzard. Clouet & Wink (2000) and Kruck-
enhauser et al. (2004) suggested that both
Socotra Buzzard and Cape Verde Buzzard
cluster genetically with Long-legged Buzzard,
rather than with the (arguably) phenotypi-
cally more similar Common Buzzard, hinting
that Cape Verde Buzzard may also have arisen
from a historical hybridisation event.
We hope that an increased knowledge of
the distinctive population of Buzzards in the
eastern Canary Islands will raise birders
awareness of the similarity with Long-legged
Buzzard, and perhaps lead to further study
and understanding, particularly in relation to
the recognition and taxonomic position of
lanzarotae. In the absence of genetic mater-
ial from birds known to originate from the
eastern Canary Islands, it is difficult to draw
any conclusions as to the closest relatives of
lanzarotae. The mixed phenotype gives some
clues but for now we must heed the words of
Porter & Kirwan (2010): in the Palearctic
region the problems posed by Old World
Buteo in general are among the thorniest in
avian taxonomy.
Acknowledgments
We thank all the photographers for allowing us to
reproduce their images, and particularly Beneharo
Rodrguez, Juan Sagardia and Yeray Seminario, who

230 British Birds 110 April 2017 222 232

 Common Buzzards on Fuerteventura
Yeray Seminario

Javier Elorriaga
136 & 137. Adult Fuerteventura Buzzard Buteo buteo lanzarotae, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands,
February 2013 (left), and subadult Gibraltar Buzzard B. b. buteo x B. rufinus cirtensis, Tetouan, Morocco,
February 2013. Note typical intermediate pattern of the underwing-coverts, not as uniform as in Long-
legged but with the triangle formed by lesser and median coverts not as well marked as in Common
Buzzard.

made available their extensive galleries on buzzards
from the Canaries. No biometric data would be
available without the skills of Manuel de la Riva and Jos
Antonio Donzar, from Estacion Biologica de Doana,
and the fieldwork support of Julio Roldan and Marina
Guerrero. Beneharo Rodrguez and Stephen Menzie
provided advice, discussion and useful comments on
the manuscript.
References
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to the eastern Canary Islands. Part II. Ibis 10: 228
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1963. Birds of the Atlantic Islands. Vol. I. A history of
the birds of the Canary Islands and the Salvages.
Oliver & Boyd. Edinburgh and London.
Bensusan, K., & Perez, C. 2016. Important Bird Areas:
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Clements, J. F., Schulenberg, T. S., Iliff, M. J., Roberson, D.,
Fredericks, T. A., Sullivan, B. L., & Wood, C. L. 2016.
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on nucleotide sequences of the cytochrome b
gene. Alauda 68: 5568.
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legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus) and Common
Buzzard (Buteo buteo) on Pantelleria, Italy, in 2008.
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de Juana, E. 2006. Aves raras de Espaa: un catlogo de
las especies de presentacin ocasional. Lynx Edicions,
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Dickinson, E. C., & Remsen, J. V. Jr. (eds.) 2013. The
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Elorriaga, J., & Roman-Munoz, A. 2013. Hybridisation
between the Common Buzzard Buteo buteo buteo
and the North African race of Long-legged Buzzard
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prelude or preclude to colonization?
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the Canarian Houbara. Bustard Studies 1: 5156.
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Lucas, M. 2011. Why birds with deferred sexual
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(v 7.1). doi: 10.14344/IOC.ML.7.1.
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O. 1993. Status y distribucion del ratonero comun
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153158.

Guillermo Rodrguez, Santander, Spain; e-mail grolazaro@gmail.com

Juan Ramrez, Malaga, Spain; e-mail queperita@hotmail.com
Javier Elorriaga, Tarifa, Cadiz, Spain; e-mail javielor@hotmail.com

Guillermo Rodrguez is a passionate raptor enthusiast, with main interests in the geographical variation and
ageing of Eurasian taxa. He also enjoys world birding, particularly in South and East Asia. Juan Ramrez has
wasted most of his life at the most important raptor migration hotspots around the Mediterranean Sea. Raptor
conservation and ringing have been his other confessable activities. Javi Elorriaga is a field ornithologist and
nature guide based in the Strait of Gibraltar. He has worked on the conservation of the Eurasian Black Vulture
in Greece and the Lammergeier in Spain, the study of raptor migration in the Strait of Gibraltar and the
reintroduction of the Osprey in the Basque Country.

232 British Birds 110 April 2017 222 232

Thriving Willow Tits in a
post-industrial landscape
Geoff Carr and Jeff Lunn
Abstract The decline of the Willow Tit Poecile montana in the UK has made it a
conservation priority species. We present evidence that in some areas of the UK
there has been an increase and colonisation over the past 25 years. This study,
combining a quarter of a century of historical records with recent data gathered
using contemporary survey methodology, shows an apparent increase in the
breeding population on post-industrial land in the former coal-mining area of the
Dearne Valley catchment in Barnsley, Yorkshire. The impact of survey methodology
on the data is discussed.

Introduction where lowland farmland, woodland,

In the UK, Willow Tits Poecile montana have
declined at a rapid rate and have disappeared
from many former strongholds in southern
England, East Anglia and the south Midlands
over the past 20 years or so. There has been
an acceleration in the rate of range loss of
50% between the 198891 Atlas and Bird
Atlas 200711 (Balmer et al. 2013). Generally,
Willow Tits in the UK prefer damp, scrubby
woodland with rotting wood for nesting
(Siriwardena 2004; Lewis et al. 2009) but they
can also occur in Silver Birch Betula pendula
or coniferous woodland. It is considered that
the drying out of habitats is a major factor in
the species decline (Lewis et al. 2009),
although other factors have been considered,
such as predation by Great Spotted Wood-
peckers Dendrocopos major and nest-site
competition from other members of the tit
family (Rustell 2015).
The River Dearne in south Yorkshire is a
sub-catchment of the River Don, which
drains into the Humber estuary. The lower
part of the Dearne is a Nature Improvement
Area (NIA), one of 12 landscape-scale areas
in England piloted by Defra to help imple-
ment key recommendations in the Lawton
report and the principles of more, bigger,
better, and joined conservation areas
(Lawton 2010). The Dearne Valley NIA
(DVNIA) comprises 20,000 ha (or 200 1-km
squares) and is a post-industrial landscape
meadows and rivers are juxtaposed with the
large-scale impact of the nineteenth- and
twentieth-century coal-mining industry.
With large spoil heaps (Coal Measures shales
and sandstones), associated colliery and
industrial complexes, a network of railways
and canals, and the pit villages greatly
expanded to accommodate colliers and their
families coal mining has changed the land-
scape dramatically. Ironically, much of that
industrial activity, together with large-scale
corporate ownership of land, has lessened the
impact of changes in the rural landscape
familiar elsewhere in the country, such as
agricultural intensification and unrestricted
access. Inadvertently, new habitats have been
created through neglect and natural succes-
sion (Lunn & Wild 1995; Lunn 2001).
The DVNIA lies mostly within the Metro-
politan Borough Council area of Barnsley,
with smaller areas within those of
Rotherham and Doncaster. The birds of this
area have been well documented by the
Barnsley Bird Study Group (BBSG) since the
1950s and Willow Tits have been recorded
commonly throughout the period. Histori-
cally, there were a few hotspots where
Willow Tits were considered more common
within a more generally widespread popula-
tion, particularly to the west of the DVNIA
and the M1 motorway (see fig. 1). Willow Tit
territories in this area were found mainly in

British Birds 110 April 2017 233 240 233

Carr & Lunn
Fig. 1. Map of the study area, showing the Dearne Valley Nature Improvement Area, together with
case study sites, key habitat features and Willow Tit Poecile montana territories located in the 2015
survey.
wet woodland or scrub habitats of willow
Salix and Alder Alnus glutinosa but occasion-
ally in drier habitats of Silver Birch and
mixed coniferous/deciduous woodland. One
territory on the edge of the Peak District
National Park at Dunford Bridge was at
300 m above sea level, where Willow Tits and
Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus bred within 100
m of each other. East of the M1 motorway
and into the lowlands, Willow Tit territories
were recorded mostly in remnant pockets of
wet woodland, and along the overgrown
banks of canals, rivers and streams.
The demise of the coal-mining industry
after the mid 1980s brought dramatic
changes to the landscape. Large expanses of
industrial land occupied by collieries and
their associated industries were swept away
through regeneration programmes, which
have delivered a large and extensive road
infrastructure and new industrial buildings,
while many former colliery sites have been
greened over and tidied up, with varying
degrees of success (Lunn 2001). Natural
regeneration, landscape planting and small
vestiges of semi-natural habitat in this post-
234
Willow Tit locations
case study sites
NIA boundary
waterbodies
major rivers
woodland
railway
disused railway
disused canal
motorway
urban areas
industrial landscape have created new Willow
Tit hotspots, which co-exist with a wide-
spread population along the disused railways
and canals.
This study provides evidence of a thriving
population of Willow Tits in such a post-
industrial landscape. We present the results
of a contemporary survey and also comment
on the impact of survey methodology.
Methods
The 2015 Willow Tit survey
A Willow Tit survey was commissioned by the
Dearne Valley Green Heart Partnership for
the DVNIA during the early spring of 2015.
The purpose of the survey was to identify pre-
breeding territories and populations of
Willow Tits within the NIA boundary (the
study area) and to compare the results with
the BBSG Breeding Bird Atlas Survey 200611
(Pearce et al. in prep.) and previous records
published in BBSG Annual Reports, 1975
2012.
A desktop analysis of the Phase 1 habitat
maps of the area was undertaken and a
survey plan devised, which involved visiting
British Birds 110 April 2017 233 240
 Willow Tits in a post-industrial landscape

all 200 1-km squares twice, between mid Feb-
ruary and early April, focusing on woodland,
scrub and riparian habitats. Linear routes
were walked along rivers, canals, disused
railway lines and public footpaths.
The survey followed the methodology
developed during recent research work on
Willow Tits by the RSPB (Paul Bellamy and
Jacqueline Weir pers. comm.). Key aspects of
this are as follows:
Two visits to each square, in February and
March, in good weather conditions.
Areas of wet woodland and scrub were
targeted preferentially.
A line transect route was walked, with a
stop every 100 m to play a recording of
Willow Tit calls and song, for two
minutes.
After playback, surveyors waited a further
two minutes for any response to the
recordings.
For all responses, coordinates and sur-
rounding habitat details were logged,
along with number of birds, type (song or
alarm) and duration of response.
Survey visits were undertaken by the
authors between 15th February and 10th
April 2015, on dry, sunny days with little or
no wind. Habitat, dominant tree species and
the presence of watercourses were recorded
systematically in the immediate vicinity
(20 m) of successful registrations. In addi-
tion, the presence of Great Spotted Wood-
peckers (potential predators) was recorded. A
territory was considered to be apparently
occupied if Willow Tits were recorded on one
or both of the survey visits.
BBSG Breeding Bird Atlas Survey 200611
A breeding bird survey of the BBSG recording
area (560 km2, centred upon Barnsley) was
undertaken between 2006 and 2011. Surveys
were carried out between mid April and the
end of June. Each 1-km square was visited
twice during the period and observers asked
to register all sightings on a map using stan-
dard (Common Bird Census) methodology.
The results were quality checked by experi-
enced surveyors before being transcribed
onto master maps showing possible, probable
and confirmed breeding, together with an
indication of population size. The BBSG Atlas
data for the DVNIA study area enabled a
comparison with the 2015 Willow Tit survey.

Geoff Carr

138. Disused railway lines provide linear hedgerow and scrub habitats, which are important for
Willow Tits Poecile montana in the study area, both for breeding and as dispersal routes for young
birds to reach new sites. Dearne Valley Park, Barnsley, November 2014.

British Birds 110 April 2017 233 240 235

Carr & Lunn
Historical records
All Willow Tit records from BBSG Annual
Reports, 19752012, were plotted on a
spreadsheet. Mostly, these proved too frag-
mented to be compared directly with the
later, targeted surveys, but some sites had suf-
ficient detail over a long period to serve as
case studies. Ingbirchworth Reservoir was
chosen as a control site, outside the DVNIA
study area but still within the BBSG
recording area.
Results
Territories
A total of 70 territories were located in the
2015 survey (table 1). The majority of these
were at a density of one per 1-km square but
there were more in favoured localities (see
below). Forty-three new occupied territories
were recorded compared with the BBSG Atlas
survey, while ten territories found in the
latter were not recorded as occupied during
the 2015 survey.
Case study sites
Table 2 shows the results from particular sites
within the study area where the 2015 survey
found densities to be greatest, as well as one
site (Howell Wood, mature dry woodland)
where the species has been lost. The Willow
Tit populations at Worsbrough Reservoir and
Ingbirchworth Reservoir have apparently
changed little over the period 19752015,
while those at Old Moor and Rabbit Ings
Carlton Marsh both show a significant
increase. The last two sites have extensive
areas of former colliery land, and through
either natural regeneration or deliberate
landscaping now support rich and diverse
mosaics of wetland, woodland, grassland and
scrub habitat combined with remnants of the
pre-industrial landscape such as rivers and
streams.
Densities
For the DVNIA study area as a whole, terri-
Table 1. Number of apparent Willow Tit Poecile montana territories in the Dearne study area
(200 km2).
2015 survey BBSG Atlas results 200611
No. apparent territories 70
236
tory density was equivalent to 0.35 territories
per 1-km square. This ranged from squares
with no Willow Tits up to 6.7 territories per
1-km square at Old Moor; the best sites for
the species held between 4.1 and 6.7 territor-
ies per 1-km square (table 2). Ingbirchworth
Reservoir has supported 23 territories for
almost 40 years but because it is a small, iso-
lated site, the apparent density of eight terri-
tories per 1-km square is not strictly
comparable with larger sites. In historical
terms, Worsbrough Reservoir was the only
site at which more apparent territories were
recorded in any one year than during the
2015 survey here, the 17 territories in 1999
was equivalent to a density of 6.3 per 1-km
square.
The territory map (fig. 1) shows some
clear patterns. Almost all the Willow Tit terri-
tories were located on or near to waterbodies
such as rivers, canals and lakes. Another clear
trend is the regular linear spacing of territor-
ies, particularly along rivers and canals, and
the relative lack of concentrations of territor-
ies. Aggregations of Willow Tit territories
were apparent in very few locations, mostly at
the sites listed in table 2, where territory
centres were as close as 250300 m apart.
Furthermore, the species was not recorded in
large parts of the intervening landscape, an
observation reinforced by the surveyors, who
paid particular attention to large areas of
apparently suitable woodland, some of which
had supported territories in the past.
Although fig. 1 shows that Willow Tits are
well distributed across the study area, the
chances of encountering them is variable.
Both surveyors had completely blank survey
days despite apparently suitable conditions
(up to six hours without a registration), and
at some territories there were registrations on
just one of the survey dates. Some birds
responded loudly and vociferously to play-
back, while others called hardly at all. The
Willow Tit playback generated a strong
response from other species too, particularly
historical records 19752012
37 24 in 1997 (max.)
British Birds 110 April 2017 233 240
 Willow Tits in a post-industrial landscape

Great Parus major, Blue Cyanistes caeruleus
and Long-tailed Aegithalus caudatus Tits, but
also Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs and
Robin Erithacus rubecula.
It proved difficult to establish anything
other than broad habitat and vegetation asso-
ciations using the survey results. Most parts
of the study area support the common trees
expected in the wet woodland and scrub
habitats known to be favoured by Willow Tits
(chiefly willows, Alders and Elder Sambucus
nigra). Wilmore et al. (2011) mapped all
plant species in South Yorkshire at 1-km
square resolution and this shows that all the
above species are found widely across the
study area.
Discussion
Survey methodology
It is clear that playback survey methodology
yields more registrations than traditional
breeding bird surveys. Playback methodology
is not foolproof, and a negative result does
not guarantee that territorial birds are absent,
as shown by a number of blank results in a
known territory. Some birds may perhaps be
foraging in other parts of a territory, beyond
earshot of the playback, and others may gen-
uinely be less responsive. Although Willow
Tits are known to have large home ranges
and are more or less sedentary (Cramp &
Simmons 1993), the actual size of territories
is less well known. This study indicates that
they may be well spaced, with an average of
950 m between territory centres in linear
habitats, but in hotspots they may be closer,
up to 250300 m apart. In areas with more
closely packed territories, we were careful to
establish that different birds were involved,
and recorded in separate territories on the
same visit. If the habitat is ideal, then higher
densities can be achieved and there is
increased tolerance of adjacent pairs.
Willow Tits, particularly young birds, are
known to disperse after breeding and may
enter other habitats, such as gardens, where
they may be attracted to feeders (personal
observations; BBSG reports), and some birds

Table 2. Case study sites, showing number of apparent Willow Tit Poecile montana territories and
density.
site description 2015 survey, 2015 density BBSG Atlas historical
no. territories (territories 200611, records: mean
per km2) no. territories no. recorded
locations per
year (range)

Old Moor Wetland nature reserve, 10 6.7 4 5 (37)

(SE425025) formerly coal stocking
150 ha yard, colliery and
pit-heap with railways.

Worsbrough Eighteenth-century canal 11 4.1 5 11.5 (617)

Reservoir feeder reservoir.
(SE345035) Open water and mature
270 ha wet woodland.

Ingbirchworth Water supply upland N/A 8 (in 200611) 2 2.5 (23)

(SE215060) reservoir. Sallow
25 ha scrub fringe.

Howell Wood Mature dry woodland, 0 0 0 4 (26)

(SE435095) mainly oak and
75 ha birch. Small stream.

Rabbit Ings Former colliery, stocking 7 5.6 4 3 (24)

Carlton Marsh areas, pit-heap,
(SE379100) disused railways.
125 ha Streams, floodplain marsh,
wet woodland.

British Birds 110 April 2017 233 240 237

 Carr & Lunn

may well have been absent from the core of
the territory during the survey period,
perhaps especially in February. To what
extent there is a stock of surplus, non-
breeding birds in the study area would be
interesting to establish.
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Jeff Lunn
Standard breeding bird surveys may on
average be too late in the year for Willow
Tits. Surveys for the BBSG Atlas, in April to
June, started some two months after the 2015
survey and a number of territories may have
been missed. Willow Tits can be notoriously

139 & 140. The RSPB reserve at Old Moor, showing the industrial devastation in 1993, after coal
mining was abandoned (upper photo), and in May 2012.

238 British Birds 110 April 2017 233 240

 Willow Tits in a post-industrial landscape
difficult to find once they have a nest with
eggs in April and May, when they remain
generally silent and hard to locate. More
widespread use of playback survey method-
ology may well reveal a higher population
estimate for the species and it would be inter-
esting to compare results using this technique
in other areas, where Willow Tits have clearly
declined.
Habitat preferences
Fig. 1, together with our field observations,
confirms the association of Willow Tits with
watercourses, wet woodland and scrub in the
study area. Particularly favoured are dense
areas of rough, tangled vegetation, for
example brambles Rubus fruticosus agg.,
interspersed with low bushes adjacent to
watercourses and waterbodies with areas of
dense, mature trees often willows over
standing water in small copses and
hedgerows along floodplain streams as well
as more typical mature willow and alder wet
woodland. Such habitat is widespread but
thinly distributed in the study area. Further
work would be needed to determine whether
nest-site availability was a limiting factor, or
whether this habitat offers advantages for
other aspects of Willow Tit ecology such as
prime feeding areas or reduced competition.
The extent of dead and rotting wood, and
potential nest-cavity density was not assessed
but would also be worth further investiga-
tion. In land-use terms, prime Willow Tit
habitat was found on nature reserves, aban-
doned post-industrial land subject to natural
succession, new plantations on old pit-heaps
and industrial sites, and along old abandoned
canals, railway lines and roadsides.
Population changes linked to landscape
changes
An improved survey methodology may
explain at least part of the overall increase in
apparent territories in the study area, but
some of the case study sites point to a
genuine increase in numbers. Sites at which
the population increase was most marked
were former coal-mining sites, which have
been cleared and landscaped with varying
degrees of attention. Natural regeneration
has been prolific; many pit-heaps are moving
to a climax oakbirch woodland, others have
British Birds 110 April 2017 233 240
been extensively planted and then left to
mature without management in a state of
benign neglect, and some are now formally
managed as greenspace (Dearne NIA; Lunn
2001). These sites can be extensive (as at Old
Moor and Rabbit IngsCarlton Marsh; table
2) but an important additional factor is the
inter-linking habitat corridors of disused
railways and canals, together with streams
and rivers. For Willow Tits, these corridors
are likely to be especially important in terms
of post-natal dispersal.
Conservation and research work
related to the Dearne Valley NIA
The Dearne NIA Willow Tit study has pro-
duced interesting results but further work is
required to inform conservation decision-
making. Future management with Willow
Tits in mind may involve various options for
wet woodland and scrub; what should be the
priorities? The relative importance of various
potential limiting factors (including nest-site
availability, interspecific competition, feeding
ecology, landscape limiting factors such as
connectivity) may vary in different parts of
the country. Efforts are already being made to
test habitat management options in the
Dearne by the RSPB (C. Cornish pers.
comm.). In Wigan (Lancashire), the creation
of additional nest holes using boxes and
birch trunks has been attempted (Last &
Burgess 2015; M. Champion pers. comm.),
and further local research into Willow Tit
biology is being undertaken by Sheffield Uni-
versity in areas close to the study area.
Notably, the Willow Tit has been selected as a
target species for a new Heritage Lottery
Funded species recovery programme Back
from the Brink, through which some of these
questions might be answered.
At present, the Dearne NIA population
must be one of the most significant in the
UK, supporting a large number of territories
within a relatively small land area and
forming an important proportion (around
2%) of the estimated UK population of 3,500
pairs (Balmer et al. 2013).
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the following: Pete Wall
of the Dearne Valley Green Heart Partnership for
commissioning the survey; RSPB and in particular
239
 Carr & Lunn
Geoff Carr

141. An area of damp Salix carr at Worsbrough, November 2014; classic Willow Tit Poecile montana
habitat.

Jacquie Weir for the survey methodology and advice;
Sheffield University and in par ticular Francesca
Fitzpatrick, Jessica Hughes and Millie Mockford;
Dave Waddington and his team at RSPB Old Moor
for survey work; Russ Boland at Barnsley MBC; Cliff
Gorman at Carlton Marsh; Barnsley Bird Study Group
members for supplying additional records; Doncaster
recorders for additional records; and Chris Senior
for preparation of fig. 1.
References
Balmer, D. E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B. J., Swann, R. L.,
Downie, I. S., & Fuller, R. J. 2013. Bird Atlas 200711:
the breeding and wintering birds of Britain and Ireland.
BTO, Thetford.
Cramp, S., & Perrins, C. M. (eds.) 1993. The Birds of
the Western Palearctic. Vol. 7. OUP, Oxford.
Last, J., & Burgess, M. 2015. Nestboxes and fieldcraft
for monitoring Willow Tits. Brit. Birds 108: 3036.
Lawton, J. H., Brotherton, P. N. M., Brown, V. K., Elphick,
C., Fitter, A. H., Forshaw, J., Haddow, R. W., Hilborner,
S., Leafe, R. N., Mace, G. M., Southgate, M. P.,
Sutherland, W. J., Tew, T. E., Varley, J., & Wynne, G. R.
2010. Making Space for Nature: a review of Englands
wildlife sites and ecological networks. Report to
Defra.
Lewis, A. J. G., Charman, E. C., & Stewart, F. R. P. 2009.
The decline of the Willow Tit in Britain. Brit. Birds
102: 386393.
Lunn, J. 2001. Wildlife and mining in the Yorkshire
coalfield. Brit. Wildlife 12: 318326.
& Wild, M. 1995. The wildlife interest of abandoned
collieries and spoil heaps in Yorkshire. Land
Contamination & Reclamation 3: 135137.
Pearce, D. M., Middleton, P., Lunn, J., Carr, G. M., &
Speight, G. In prep. Atlas of the Breeding Birds of
Barnsley 20062011.
Rustell, A. 2015. The effects of avian nest predation
and competition on the Willow Tit in Britain.
Brit. Birds 108: 3741.
Siriwardena, G. 2004. Possible roles of habitat,
competition and avian nest predation in the decline
of the Willow Tit Parus montanus in Britain.
Bird Study 51: 193202.
Wilmore, G. T. D., Lunn, J., & Rodwell, J. S. 2011.
The South Yorkshire Plant Atlas. Yorkshire Naturalists
Union & Yorkshire & Humber Ecological Data Trust.

Geoff Carr, 300 Higham Common Road, Barnsley S75 1PF;

e-mail geoffcarr300@virginmedia.com
Jeff Lunn, 11 Springfields, Barnsley S75 1JS; e-mail jeff.lunn@hotmail.com

Geoff Carr has had a lifelong interest in wildlife and is a long-time ringer, an active member of Barnsley Bird
Study Group and a trustee of the Garganey Trust. He has co-written recent papers on Golden Plovers and
Dunlins in BB (Brit. Birds 108: 273278, 110: 109116). Jeff Lunn has worked in conservation for over 35 years
and has a particular interest in the wildlife of post-industrial habitats and wetlands. He is currently chairman of
the Dearne Valley Green Heart Steering group and chairman of the Garganey Trust, working on landscape-scale
conservation projects.

240 British Birds 110 April 2017 233 240

Obituaries
Eric Richard Meek (19472017)
Eric Meek was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
on 19th June 1947 and his late mother told
me that Eric was his parents miracle baby,
having arrived late in their life. He gave them
much to be proud of, passing his eleven-plus
and attending Gosforth Grammar School,
eventually becoming Head Boy there and
winning a scholarship to study geography at
Cambridge. He also became a very successful
sportsman, playing rugby for England at
schoolboy level.
Somewhere along the line he became pas-
sionate about wildlife, especially birds. In his
mid teens, he joined the newly formed Tyne-
side Bird Club, which was then a hotbed of
young and talented ornithologists. He started
ringing birds with the Northumbria Ringing
Group, developing a deep interest in birds of
prey, especially the Merlin Falco columbarius,
which remained his special bird for the rest
of his life.
After graduating from Cambridge in 1968,
142. Eric Meek with Murphy, on Rousay, Orkney, in July 2004.
British Birds 110 April 2017 241243
Eric trained as a teacher and secured his first
job, in Newcastle. In 1972, however, he took a
year out, to go and work as an Assistant
Warden at Fair Isle Bird Observatory. It was
then that he visited Orkney for the first time,
on a day trip to North Ronaldsay. After that
year off, he returned to teaching and quickly
rose to become a head of department at a
school in Northumberland.
At this time, his involvement in bird-
related matters grew significantly and he
became a key figure in Northumberland and
Tyneside. He was a co-author of Birds in
Northumbria (the newly styled county report,
published by the Tyneside Bird Club), first
published in 1971 when he was still only 24;
it was well ahead of its time and set a new
standard for such reports. It was also in this
period that the Merlin study in Northumber-
land really took off, driven mostly by Eric.
Part of his research involved visits to the local
museum archives, to find where eggs had
Marian Ginnever
241
Obituaries
been collected up to 100 years before; he then
checked those sites and found many of them
still occupied! This typified his enthusiastic,
energetic and meticulous approach to such
things. The Merlin work led to a landmark
paper in BB, by Ian Newton, Eric and Brian
Little, on the breeding biology of the Merlin;
published in 1977 (Brit. Birds 71: 376398), it
is still regularly cited in research publications.
That study continues to this day.
In 1981 he made the brave decision to give
up teaching and move away from Northum-
berland, where he had become firmly estab-
lished. He took his young family to Orkney
and became the RSPBs Area Officer, a job he
loved and which he carried out with no little
skill and dedication for 31 years.
It is difficult to overestimate the scope of his
achievements on Orkney. By 2012, Eric had
hugely increased the number of RSPB nature
reserves in these beautiful islands, to the point
that the RSPB was managing the largest land
area of any organisation or individual there. He
carried out and promoted very effectively the
protection of and research into particular
species such as the Merlin (his studies of
Merlins in Orkney, begun in 1981, continued
until his death), Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus
and Corn Crake Crex crex. To all that species
research he brought his own special under-
standing of the importance of the wider
habitat, of which he developed a deep and pro-
found knowledge; in particular, he developed a
national reputation for his botanical expertise.
Of course, he had to be adept at public relations
too; he was already assured at public speaking,
but his diplomatic skills were quickly learnt, a
transformation from his fiery youth. At times,
the situation in Orkney was extremely difficult,
with huge controversy about the designation of
Sites of Special Scientific Interest, much of it
directed very personally at Eric, who was burnt
Frank Colin Gribble (19292016)
Frank Gribble was born in Bedford in 1929
and birds were part of his life from an early
age his father bred Border Canaries and
took Frank to cagebird shows where he saw
British and foreign birds at close quarters.
At Bedford School, Frank developed an
interest in wild birds and by the time he
242
in effigy in Hoy. It says much that by the time
he retired he was universally respected by those
who had earlier opposed him. Unsurprisingly,
he played a leading role in the local birding
community, including the production of
Orkney Bird Reports, monthly bulletins and
newspaper articles in the Orcadian. There can
be no doubt that he was deeply passionate
about the islands.
Increasingly he was pulled into roles of
national importance and, such was his quiet
charisma, charm, natural authority and deep
conscientiousness, he nearly always ended up
as chairman. He became Chairman of the
BOU Records Committee in 2002 and, until
just a few weeks before his death, he was
Chairman of the Fair Isle Bird Observatory
Trust, Fair Isle being the place that perhaps
he loved more than anywhere.
Eric gave up teaching in schools but never
gave up being a teacher. He was a natural,
able to give clear and straightforward expla-
nations of sometimes quite complex science.
One friend said to me: He enhanced your
day and even the most mundane of walks
became an informative adventure. Inevitably,
he became a popular and successful leader of
tours both in Orkney and in places abroad as
widespread as Alaska and Antarctica.
Eric was a devoted family man, and above
all he loved walking with his family and his
dogs in wild places. When his first wife,
Christine, died in 2001 he was devastated but
worked hard to support his children, Terry
and Sally. Then in 2006 he found a soulmate
in Aileen and it was good to see him happy
and relaxed again. Eric died on 16th February
2017, having collapsed suddenly a few days
earlier. Our condolences and hearts go out to
Aileen, his children and their families.
John Ginnever
left there he was ringing them.
He soon became a regular visitor to the
gravel-pits of the Ouse Valley. In 1947 he began
counting wildfowl at Kempston Hardwick and
later counted at Venus Pool and Aqualate
Mere, eventually becoming one of the
countrys longest-serving wildfowl counters.
British Birds 110 April 2017 241243

143. Frank Gribble, in 2006.
After National Service in the Army, he was
dissuaded by Bruce Campbell from seeking
paid employment in ornithology. Instead he
joined Sun Insurance for a career that soon
took him away from Bedford, first to Shrews-
bury and later to Stafford.
Frank served as a BTO Regional Represen-
tative for 45 years (19552000) in Bedford-
shire, Shropshire and Staffordshire; he was
Honorary Secretary (196871), Council
Member (196467 & 198588) and a
member of the Finance & General Purposes
Committee (196871) and Populations &
Surveys Committee (197175). In 1958 and
again in 1973 he organised national surveys
of breeding Black-headed Gulls Chroico-
cephalus ridibundus and in 1981 a national
European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus
survey. He was active in Atlas and other
survey work and was awarded the Bernard
Tucker Medal in 1973.
Frank was soon involved in the Shropshire
Ornithological Society, acting as Honorary
Secretary (195863), and was later Vice-Pres-
ident (196594) and President (1994 until his
death). He was among those who fought
against the threatened afforestation of the
Long Mynd, a campaign that led to the for-
mation of the Shropshire Nature Conserva-
British Birds 110 April 2017 241243
Obituaries
Bevan Craddock
tion Trust. His move to Staffordshire led to
similar involvement and he was a founder
member of what is now Staffordshire Wildlife
Trust. For many years he chaired the Trusts
Conservation Committee and in 2014 was
awarded the Staffordshire Wildlife Medal for
exceptional service to the Trust.
From 1990 until his death he was Vice-
President of the West Midland Bird Club
while also serving as Chair of the Stafford
Branch. He organised surveys of the birds of
Cannock Chase and of the breeding waders
of the countys lowland wet meadows, and
was involved in numerous conservation proj-
ects including the creation of reserves at
Belvide and Blithfield Reservoirs and Doxey
Marshes. He was awarded the MBE for his
services to nature conservation in 1996.
Frank travelled widely to see birds in the
UK and overseas, for many years in the
company of his late wife, Hilary, a keen
botanist whom he married in 1963 and
whose death in 2001 was a huge blow to him.
In the field Frank was always good company,
rarely without a tie or a notebook, and
he counted everything. He died on 5th
September 2016 and will be sadly missed.
Peter Dedicoat, with help from David Emley
243
Letters
Driven grouse shooting an alternative view
Mark Averys plans to abolish driven grouse
shooting have several major flaws. First, he
appears to be unconcerned about the negative
impact banning the sport would have on the
thousands of waders and other upland birds
that currently breed in significant numbers
on the keepered and managed moors. These
include Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix, Northern
Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Eurasian Curlew
Numenius arquata, Merlin Falco columbarius,
Skylark Alauda arvensis and Ring Ouzel
Turdus torquatus (all red-listed birds of con-
servation concern), along with the amber-
listed Dunlin Calidris alpina, Common Snipe
Gallinago gallinago and the Red Grouse
Lagopus lagopus itself. The Hen Harrier Circus
cyaneus is, of course, red-listed, but it is
noteworthy that this is a bird with a huge
breeding range throughout Europe and Asia,
and its world status is of least concern.
Second, how does he propose to look after
the moors once driven grouse shooting is
banned? Who will finance their management to
ensure that they are in prime condition to
support his proposed 330 pairs of Hen Harriers?
Driven grouse moors cover many thousands of
hectares, the management of which would be
far beyond the purse of any of our wildlife
trusts, our statutory bodies or even the RSPB.
Replacing moors with plantations of Sitka
Spruce Picea sitchensis and sheep walks might be
good for Goldcrests Regulus regulus, Coal Tits
Periparus ater, Carrion Crows Corvus corone and
Common Ravens C. corax, but little else.

David Tomlinson, Forge Cottage, Bowbeck, Bardwell, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP31 1BA;
e-mail dhtomlinson@btinternet.com

Editorial comment It is undoubtedly true that managing our uplands is a complex issue, and
this months BB eye, pp. 190191, presents the RSPBs vision for that management. Although
there is evidence, for example from the Langholm study, that a degree of predator control
through keepering benefits the productivity of some upland waders, there is also evidence that
driven grouse shooting is not beneficial to the wider upland bird community, as shown by the
paper on Merlins in last months issue (Brit. Birds 110: 138154).

Recent reports
Compiled by Barry Nightingale and Harry Hussey

This summary of unchecked reports covers the period from early February to early March 2017.
Headlines While many of the long-staying rarities showed little signs of departing, there were
a few new arrivals to catch the imagination, the best being a Glaucous-winged Gull on Fair Isle
and an American Herring Gull in Cornwall. Other discoveries included a new Pacific Diver off
the Devon coast and a Pallid Harrier in Norfolk.

Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser er y- 4th March. Red-breasted Goose Branta

thropus Wallasea Island (Essex), long-stayer
again on 26th February. Todds Canada
Goose Branta canadensis interior Long-
stayers in Argyll, Lancashire & N Merseyside
and Co. Wexford; also Dunfanaghy (Co.
Donegal), 25th February. Cackling Goose
Branta hutchinsii Islay (Argyll), up to five to
ruficollis Pilling/Cockerham (Lancashire & N
Merseyside), long-stayer to 19th February.
American Wigeon Anas americana Records
from Ayrshire, Clyde, Devon (two), Co.
Donegal (two), Co. Down, Fife, Gloucester-
shire, Highland (three or four), Northumber-

244 British Birds 110 April 2017 244 245


land, Orkney (two), Pembrokeshire and
Worcestershire. Black Duck Anas rubripes
Strontian (Highland), long-stayer to 8th
March. Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca Blash-
ford Lakes (Hampshire), long-stayer to 8th
March; Little Marlow GP (Buckinghamshire),
27th28th February. Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis
Long-stayers in Cornwall and Orkney. King
Eider Somateria spectabilis A long-stayer in Co.
Sligo and Castlegregory (Co. Kerry), 12th26th
February. Black Scoter Melanitta americana
Long-stayers Rossbeigh (Co. Kerry), to 3rd
March, and Goswick (Northumberland), to
4th March. Hooded Merganser Lophodytes
cucullatus Clyde, long-stayer to 23rd February.
Pacific Diver Gavia pacifica Long-stayers at Pen-
zance (Cornwall), to 22nd February, and East
Chevington/Ladyburn Lake (Northumberland),
to 8th March; Broadsands, 16th17th February
and Brixham (Devon), 7th March. White-billed
Diver Gavia adamsii North Ronaldsay, 11th
February, South Ronaldsay (both Orkney),
12th26th February; Ferny Ness (Lothian) to
12th February, again 1st March; Sandwood
Bay (Highland), 12th February; Bluemull
Sound (Shetland), 16th February.
Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax Youghal
(Co. Cork), 18th February. Cattle Egret
Bubulcus ibis Widespread influx with multiple
counts in Co. Cork (13), Cornwall (18),
Devon (12), Dorset (nine), Gloucestershire
(four), Isle of Wight (eight), Lancashire & N
Merseyside (six), Co. Waterford (two), Co.
Wexford (eight), Wiltshire (three). Singles in
another three recording areas in Wales, seven
in England and two in Scotland.
Northern Harrier Circus hudsonius North
Ronaldsay, long-stayer to 8th March. Pallid
Harrier Circus macrourus Yorkshire, long-stayer
to 26th February; New Holkham area
(Norfolk), 24th February to 8th March.
American Coot Fulica americana North Uist
(Outer Hebrides), long-stayer to 5th March.
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus Sandwick (Shet-
land), long-stayer to 5th March. Hudsonian
Whimbrel Numenius hudsonicus Perranuthnoe
(Cornwall), long-stayer to 26th February. Lesser
Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes Lytchett Bay (Dorset),
British Birds 110 April 2017 244 245
Recent reports
long-stayer to 8th March. Long-billed
Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus Tacumshin
(Co. Wexford), long-stayer to 5th March.
Forsters Tern Sterna forsteri Salthill, 10th
February, same Doorus, 17th February, and
Nimmos Pier (all Co. Galway), 4th March.
Bonapartes Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia
Long-stayers at multiple sites in Devon to
15th February, and Cardwell Bay (Clyde), to
8th March; Cork City, 12th14th February,
same the Gearagh, 19th20th February, and
Lee Reservoirs (all Co. Cork), 3rd9th March;
Helston (Cornwall), 5th7th March. Amer-
ican Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus Polgigga
(Cornwall), 5th March. Glaucous-winged Gull
Larus glaucescens Fair Isle, 2nd March.
Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus Eday (Orkney),
long-stayer to 15th February; Tarmon Hill,
Mullet Peninsula (Co. Mayo), 8th March.
Humes Warbler Phylloscopus humei Portland
(Dorset), long-stayer to 7th March. Dusky Thrush
Turdus eunomus Beeley (Derbyshire), long-stayer
to 10th February. Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger
cyanurus Caerphilly (East Glamorgan), long-
stayer to 21st February. Eastern Black Redstart
Phoenicurus ochruros phoenicuroides/rufiventris/
xerophilus Skinningrove (Cleveland), long-stayer
to 8th March. Blue Rock Thrush Monticola
solitarius Stow-on-the-Wold (Gloucestershire),
long-stayer to 8th March. Desert Wheatear
Oenanthe deserti Thurlestone (Devon), long-
stayer to 7th March. Siberian Accentor Prunella
montanella Invergordon (Highland), 8th14th
February. Arctic Redpoll Acanthis hornemanni
Earnock (Clyde), two, 14th February, one to 18th;
Hagg Wood (Yorkshire), 25th26th February.
Pine Bunting Emberiza leucocephalos Long-
stayers Milton Creek (Kent), to 1st March, and
Dunnington (Yorkshire), to 8th March.
David Parnaby
144. Third-winter Glaucous-winged Gull Larus
glaucescens, Fair Isle, March 2017.
245
Rarities Committee news
BBRC AGM
The 2017 BBRC AGM was held over the
weekend of 24th26th February at Spurn
Bird Observatory and proved to be a very
enjoyable weekend with plenty of identifica-
tion discussion to leaven the more mundane
procedural items. Of particular interest to
birders, the following decisions were made.
The rarity status of several species was
considered, using BBRCs own statistics and
data from the Scarce Migrants reports, pub-
lished in BB. Our definition for a national
rarity is either 100 or fewer individuals in the
most recent ten-year period or ten or fewer
individuals in at least seven of the last ten
years. Any taxon that meets, or is close to,
either of these criteria, will be considered for
inclusion as a BBRC rarity. The removal of
taxa from the BBRC list follows similar guide-
lines in reverse so those with more than 100
individuals in the last ten years, or more than
ten individuals in at least seven of the last ten
years will be considered for removal.
Coming onto the BBRC list with imme-
diate effect is Ferruginous Duck Aythya
nyroca. Although it has seemed perpetually
close to the rarity threshold, the most recent
ten-year period for which we have data
(200514) shows evidence of a clear decline
in British records. In addition, there are iden-
tification and provenance issues with this
species, which may be considerable, and con-
cerns have been raised that the true status of
Ferruginous Duck in Britain is clouded by
these. The committee felt that the only way to
address these issues properly is to reinstate
Ferruginous Duck as a national rarity and
attempt to standardise acceptance criteria.
Also displaying a worrying trend is
Kentish Plover Anarhynchus alexandrinus,
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total
Ferruginous Duck 9 9 5 8 19
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total
Black-winged Stilt 1 12 1 9
Red-flanked Bluetail 8 13 7 31
246
and the committee will maintain a watching
brief on this species. In the most recent
ten-year period, there are three years with
fewer than ten records, and only 145 in total.
After last years AGM, all eyes have been
on Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus
and we can no longer postpone making a
decision on this species. As of 1st January
2017, it will no longer be considered a
national rarity. The same is true of Black-
winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus. As can
be seen in the tables below (with provisional
totals for 2016), Red-flanked Bluetail clearly
meets both criteria for removal while Black-
winged Stilt has well over 100 records in the
last ten years, and a trend of increasing
occurrence and breeding attempts, and so for
both species all records from 2017 onwards
should be assessed by the relevant county
records committees.
Also considered for removal, perhaps sur-
prisingly, was Black Stork Ciconia nigra.
There have been 105 records in the last ten
years, but only six years with ten or more
records in that period. Removal would be a
marginal decision, as for Red-flanked Bluetail
last year, and so Black Stork remains a
national rarity for the time being. If current
trends continue, however, it will certainly
qualify for removal in the next year or two.
The thorny problem of reintroductions
was also debated. Two recent examples
include Lesser White-fronted Geese Anser
erythropus that have originated from the
schemes in Scandinavia and a Lesser Grey
Shrike Lanius minor in Northumberland (at
the time of writing this record has not yet
been submitted) from a reintroduction
scheme in Spain. After much discussion, it
4 11 7 5 5 82
7 32 8 34 31 20 155
13 3 12 11 17 33 148
British Birds 110 April 2017 246 248
 Rarities Committee news

Garry Taylor
145. BBRC at Spurn Bird Observatory, February 2017. From left (standing): Richard Millington,
Nigel Jones, Nic Hallam, Andy Stoddart (vice-chair), Paul French (chairman), Richard Porter (BB
director), Chas Holt (secretary), Richard Schofield, Chris Batty, Micky Maher, Gerry Dobler (Zeiss);
(kneeling) Mike Pennington, Dave Fairhurst, Nigel Hudson (former secretary).

146. At the Spurn AGM,

Nigel Hudson (right) was
presented with a farewell gift
by Paul French at the end of
his tenure as the BBRC
Secretary. Nigel has done a
sterling job over the past
decade, during which time the
mechanics of voting have
become entirely electronic.
His statistical know-how and
database skills have been at
the heart of those changes,
and his contribution has been

Mike Pennington
enormous. The painting of
Grey Wagtails Motacilla cinerea
by Ian Wallace depicts the
species that first got Nigel
into birding, many years ago.

was decided that we would publish submitted always be identifiable as such, especially as
and accepted records from these schemes in they increase in numbers, but we will attempt
an appendix in the annual report. Clearly, to make an educated judgement on a case-
some birds from these schemes may not by-case basis.

New voting members required for BBRC

BBRC is seeking two new voting members, to
replace Mike Pennington and Paul French.
Mike joined BBRC in 2007 and has therefore
completed his ten years of service, while Paul
has decided to step down one year early to
devote more time to the chairmans role.
Chris Batty, who also joined the committee in
2007, has agreed to stay on for an extra year
to provide continuity, since three retirements
in a year was felt too much of a drain on the
collective experience of the committee. BBRC
would like to extend grateful thanks to Mike
for his hard work and detailed knowledge of
the Shetland rarity scene.
The prime qualifications of candidates
are:
a widely acknowledged expertise in identi-
fication

British Birds 110 April 2017 246 248 247

Rarities Committee news
proven reliability in the field
a track record of high-quality submissions
of descriptions of scarce and rare birds to
county records committees and BBRC
experience of record assessment
regional credibility
the capacity to handle the volume of work
involved in assessing upwards of 700
records per year
the capacity to work quickly and
efficiently
easy access to the internet
BBRC has two nominees this year, but we
welcome further nominations. Traditionally
we have aimed to maintain a Northern Isles
representative, and would like that to con-
tinue, but the second nominee could be
based anywhere.
The first nominee is Roger Riddington.
Roger started birding in Lincolnshire in his
schooldays. He moved to Shetland in 1992,
where he was first assistant warden and then
warden on Fair Isle. He has lived on main-
land Shetland since 1998, and became the BB
editor in 2001. Holidays have taken him
outside the UK, mainly in the northern
hemisphere, but he gets most enjoyment
from species that might turn up in Britain.
Moving to Shetland cured his desire to culti-
vate a large British list but he is always keen
to see, and especially find, rarities in Shet-
land. Species on his find list include Red-
necked Stint Calidris ruficollis, Thick-billed
Warbler Iduna aedon and Taiga Flycatcher
Ficedula albicilla, although more regular rari-
ties that hed always dreamed of stumbling
across, including Rosss Gull Rhodostethia
rosea and Whites Thrush Zoothera dauma,
gave particular pleasure, as did a Yellow-
BritishBirds RaritiesCommittee
BBRC is sponsored by Carl Zeiss Ltd and the RSPB
Chairman Paul French, 1 Greenfield Bungalows, Easington, East Yorkshire HU12 0TZ;
e-mail chair@bbrc.org.uk
Secretary Chas Holt, 307 St Johns Way, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 3PA; e-mail secretary@bbrc.org.uk
248
rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata in his
garden. He has served on the Scottish and
Shetland records committees, and also as a
director of Fair Isle Bird Observatory Trust.
Our second nominee is Stephen Menzie.
Stephen is originally from Liverpool but now
lives in London. He has birded across Britain
and the wider Western Palearctic, including
working as a ringer in Spain and Sweden. He
is particularly interested in moult, ageing,
sexing and feather-level identification, and
has written a number of articles on the sub-
jects. He has found or been involved in
finding various rarities across the region
including Eastern Subalpine Warbler Sylvia c.
cantillans/albistriata (http://bit.ly/2n05V97),
Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola
and three Collared Flycatchers Ficedula
albicollis at Falsterbo, in Sweden, and
Watercock Gallicrex cinerea in Oman
(http://bit.ly/2lzedaV) and he enjoys close
ties with several European rarity committees.
He formerly worked for BirdGuides and now
works for NatureGuides, developing apps and
software, including the Collins Bird Guide app.
Further nominations should be sent to the
BBRC chairman (chair@bbrc.org.uk) before
30th June 2017, with a proposer and sec-
onder, a brief summary of the nominees
experience and the written agreement of the
nominee. After this date, if we have received
further nominations, a voting slip and list of
all candidates with relevant details will be
sent to all county recorders and bird observa-
tory wardens for an election, as per section
2.2.3 of our Constitution (see www.bbrc.
org.uk/about/constitution).
For extra information, contact Paul
French at chair@bbrc.org.uk
British Birds 110 April 2017 246 248
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