RARE BREEDING BIRDS
Rare breeding birds in Dorset are monitored by the County Recorders and we encourage the reporting of all records to us directly, to enable their protection and conservation. All information received is kept strictly confidential.
The Dorset County Recorder for rare breeding birds is Shaun Robson - contacted here. A report is prepared annually for the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP) which collates data at a national level.
If you find a rare breeding bird please remember to consider the RBBP guidelines on making your finding public. It is important to be cautious when reporting potential breeding pairs of species on the RBBP list.
All breeding birds can be vulnerable to interference and disturbance.
It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly disturb many species of rare breeding bird while they are nesting.
The Rare Breeding Birds Panel advocates special caution with regards to making breeding records of any RBBP-listed species public.
This includes reporting by National Bird News Information Services, sharing on local birdwatching message boards, via social media such as Twitter, Facebook or WhatsApp groups, and on personal websites and blogs.
We urge all those birdwatchers lucky enough to find rare birds in the spring, and those sharing news onward, to consider whether birds may be breeding before doing so.
Sightings should always be submitted, in confidence, to the county bird recorder, to contribute to the RBBP’s long-term monitoring.
Rare Breeding Birds Panel www.rbbp.org.uk
The Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP) encourages and supports the recording and reporting of rare breeding birds in the UK. Data is collated on all species with fewer than 2,000 breeding pairs in the UK in order to report annually on their numbers, trends and distribution, and maintain a secure archive to support conservation and research for these species. Data is also collected on rare non-native breeding species.
In Dorset the rare breeding or potential rare breeding species we request all data for include:
Quail, Garganey, Shoveler, Pochard, Turtle Dove, Spotted Crake, Crane, Stone-curlew, Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, Mediterranean Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Little Tern, Roseate Tern, Bittern, Cattle Egret, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Osprey, Honey-buzzard, Goshawk, Marsh Harrier, Montagu’s Harrier, Long-eared Owl, Bee-eater, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Peregrine, Hobby, Red-backed Shrike, Willow Tit, Bearded Tit, Woodlark, Marsh Warbler, Savi’s Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Black Redstart, Hawfinch, Serin & Cirl Bunting.
We also monitor and welcome breeding records of the following non-native species: Black Swan & Golden Pheasant.