Online Guide to Rarer British Birds

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Introduction

Welcome to the Online Guide to Rarer British Birds. This area is designed to complement both Bird News Extra AND the CD-ROM Guide to Rarer British Birds, and includes the following features:

complete lists of British and Irish records of species considered by the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) and Irish Rare Birds Committee (IRBC) — over 21,000 records in total
graphs and maps derived from this data
facilities to search this data

Access to the Online Guide to Rarer British Birds

Access to this area is available to Bird News Extra subscribers for as long as their subscription lasts.

The Online Guide to Rarer British Birds uses scripting and "cookies" - you may have difficulties accessing some areas if your browser does not support these techniques, or you have disabled them or set your Internet privacy or security settings in such a way as to prevent their use. We recommend the use of Internet Explorer 5.0 or later, and a screen resolution of at least 800x600 pixels.

Species and families on the disk

The Online Guide to Rarer British Birds includes all species that are considered by BBRC, IRBC and other committees up to the end of 2008.

The numbers of species representing each family on the disk are indicated in the drop-down list of families at the top of each page. In a few cases, two or more taxonomically distinct families are grouped together for convenience.

Interpreting the lists of reports

The lists of records are ordered as in the British Birds Rarities Report, that is by year (and within each year alphabetically by county), with the most recent sighting first. In general there is one report for each bird or group of birds in each county in which it appears and for each year the bird or birds return. So a bird considered to be the same individual which is recorded in two counties in one year, and again in one of the same counties the following year, will appear 3 times in total.

Accepted records are listed first, with the following columns of information:

the year the bird was first sighted (birds that stay for more than one year are generally listed separately for each year, with cross references)
where necessary, the second column lists the county or recording area (as identified in British Birds) in which the bird appeared. This usually, but not always, refers to the modern county - if the site fell within a different administrative area at the time of the occurrence this is generally noted in the notes in the next column. The same bird or birds occurring in several counties will usually be listed once for each county in each year, with cross-references where appropriate.
the notes from the British Birds Rarities Report
references to the listing in British Birds and other text sources where available

Records listed as "No longer accepted" are those that have at some stage been accepted by the BBRC, but later reviewed and found to be unacceptable. For these records there is an additional column, containing references or explanations as to why the report is considered unacceptable. Reports that have never been accepted by the BBRC are not listed.

In a few cases the BBRC and IRBC consider reports of birds that have not been identified to species level (namely Albatross sp., Frigatebird sp., Pratincole sp., American/Pacific Golden Plover, Dowitcher sp., Semipalmated/Western Sandpiper, Royal/Lesser Crested Tern, Sandgrouse sp., Bonelli's Warbler ssp., Dusky/Radde's Warbler). Such records are listed separately, but are also duplicated under the relevant species. For example, "Pratincole sp." records are listed separately under that name, but also appear under the reports of Oriental, Black-winged and Collared Pratincole. These non-specifically identified records do not, however, appear in the graphs and maps for the main species.

With over 21,000 reports processed in the production of this product, some errors are likely to have been made - some in transcription and some in the original data published in British Birds and elsewhere. We would be glad to receive information on any errors or inconsistencies you notice.

Interpreting graphs and maps

The following are available for each species:

a map showing the number of accepted records in each bird recording area as used by British Birds. The size of the dots indicates the number of records (as shown in the accompanying key) and does not reflect multiple records (e.g. a record of a flock of 20 will appear as a single record). The dots are centrally placed within the area they represent and do not reflect the actual location of the observations within that area. Where possible we have endeavoured to eliminate "multiple counting" of birds occurring year after year. "At sea" records are omitted from these maps.
a bar chart showing the number of records accepted in each year from 1950 to 2007. We have endeavoured to prevent multiple records of the same bird(s) from counting more than once. The bars are shown in alternating shades to aid legibility – there is no other significance to the colours.
a bar chart showing the number of records from each month. Birds that stay for more than a month register only in the month in which they first occurred. As with the annual charts, we have endeavoured to prevent multiple records from counting more than once in the monthly charts. The bars are again shown in alternating shades to aid legibility – the colours have no other significance.
A pie chart showing the breakdown of records by age, as identified in the Rarities Report.
A pie chart showing the breakdown of records by sex, as noted in the Rarities Report.

The difficulties of identifying duplicates among the 21,000+ records processed mean that all graphs should be treated as illustrative only. For definitive information see the record lists.

Help

We hope that you will find the Online Guide to Rarer British Birds intuitive to use but if you do have any problems, this page is the first place to look.

Navigation

You move between the pages of this area in two ways:

by selected items from drop-down lists, or
by clicking on "links" (such as "Home" at the top of this page)

If a piece of text is linked to another page, your mouse pointer will change shape when you "hover" over it, and if your browser supports it the text will change colour to white. The bar along the top of the screen indicates where you are within the guide, and allows you to jump quickly to other parts of the site. Links in the right-hand column are specific to the species or family you have selected. If you ever get "lost", clicking the Home link at the top left of the screen will take you back to the beginning.

Graphs (including maps) appear in separate "pop-up" windows, to allow you to compare two or more graphs side-by-side. If you "lose" a window, it is probably behind a larger window - try minimising the currently visible window. We recommend you close pop-up windows when you have finished viewing their contents.

Browser issues

Your browser needs to be "Javascript-enabled". Most modern browsers will have this facility, but some allow you to disable Javascript. If you find that the drop-down lists (e.g. to jump to a particular species from the home page) do not work, check your browser settings and ensure that Javascript (or "scripting", or "scripts") is not disabled.

To prevent unauthorised access, the Online Guide to Rarer British Birds also requires the use of Internet cookies. If you have disabled cookies (perhaps by setting your browser's security or privacy settings), or your browser does not support them, you may be unable to access this area of the BirdGuides website.

The product is designed for use at screen resolutions of 800x600 and higher (although we recommend a higher resolution if your monitor allows it). It is tested on Netscape Communicator version 4.7 and later, and Internet Explorer version 5.0 and later, on Windows and Macintosh platforms.

You can maximise the screen area available by (a) maximising your browser window and (b) "hiding" various browser screen items as follows:

In Internet Explorer under Windows, select View, Full Screen (or press F11). Press F11 again to return your browser to normal.
In Internet Explorer on a Macintosh, select View, Collapse Toolbars and uncheck View, Explorer Bar.
In Netscape (Windows and Macintosh versions), uncheck the Navigation Toolbar, Location Toolbar and Personal Toolbar options in the View, Show menu.

System requirements

Javascript-compatible browser (Internet Explorer 5.0 or later recommended)
Cookies enabled
Screen resolution of 800x600 or higher (higher recommended)

Credits and Acknowledgements

Software and database design: Dave Dunford (BirdGuides) and John Cromie (Skylark Associates, www.skylark.ie)

Data entry and analysis: Keith Naylor, with assistance from Diane Harrison
Product concept and species text: Russell Slack, with assistance from Phil Palmer
Graphic design: Andy Hardwick
Project management and additional assistance: Dave Gosney, Russell Slack

Maps created using DMAP (www.dmap.com)

Original data from British Birds magazine (www.britishbirds.co.uk)