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Journal article
Scottish Birds Records Committee report on rare birds in Scotland, 2020
This is the 13th annual report of the Scottish Birds Records Committee (SBRC) describing rare birds recorded in Scotland during 2020. Details of previous annual reports that cover the period 2005 to 2019 can be found listed in McInerny & McGowan (2021), some of which are cited in this reportMcInerny, C ; McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
Bill measurements aid sub-specific identification of Great Spotted Woodpeckers in Britain
Wing length has been used by researchers to separate the resident British subspecies of Great Spotted Woodpecker from migrants from Fennoscandia, though some degree of overlap exists with this character. In this study, specimens at National Museums of Scotland (NMS) show that bill shape aids subspecific identification, confirming that Fennoscandian...Dougall, T W ; McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
The five million bird eggs in the world’s museum collections are an invaluable and underused resource
The ~1.97 million egg sets (~5 million eggs) housed in museums have not been used in proportion to their availability. We highlight the wide variety of scientific disciplines that have used egg collections and the geographic locations and sizes of these collections, to increase awareness of the importance of egg...Marini, Miguel Ângelo ; Hall, Linnea ; Bates, John ; Steinheimer, Frank D ; McGowan, R Y …
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Journal article
The polaris subspecies of Little Auk Alle alle on the British List
This paper describes the analysis of a number of Little Auk Alle alle specimens collected in Scotland that show biometrics of the subspecies A.a. polaris which breeds in the eastern part of the species' Arctic range. Wing length measurements confirmed that two specimens are A.a. polaris. This conclusion has been...McInerney, C J ; McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
The Dorset Yellow Bittern
Melling, T ; McGowan, R Y
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Book chapter
Eskimo Curlew
McGowan, R Y ; Shaw, K D
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Book chapter
Pioneers in Scottish Ornithology
McGowan, R Y
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Book chapter
Great Spotted Woodpecker
McGowan, R Y
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Book chapter
Cream-coloured Courser
McGowan, R Y ; Morton, K
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Book chapter
Great Northern Diver
McGowan, R Y
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Book chapter
The Hafizi Nightingale
McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
British records of ‘Eastern Yellow Wagtail’
An eastern subspecies of Yellow Wagtail, Motacilla flava simillima, was added to the British List on the basis of two specimens collected on Fair Isle in 1909 and 1912. No further records have been accepted, in spite of the regular occurrence of ‘grey-and-white’ first-winter Yellow Wagtails in Britain in autumn,...Collinson, J M ; Smith, A ; Waite, S ; McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
White-billed Diver: new first Scottish record
McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
The Janitor and his museum: John Wilson (1775–1832) and the teaching of ‘practical zoology’ in early nineteenth-century Edinburgh
A description by William Jardine of Applegirth of the state of taxidermy in early nineteenth-century Edinburgh draws attention to the agency of the University of Edinburgh’s Janitor, John Wilson, in contributing to the University’s Natural History Museum, in the building of his own private museum collection, and in the teaching...Swinney, Geoffrey N ; McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
Brünnich's guillemot, Anstruther, 2016: postscript
McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
Potential occurrence of the long-tailed Skua subspecies Stercorarius longicaudus pallescens in Scotland
Two Long-tailed Skuas Stercorarius longicaudus reported in Scotland, an adult male collected at Sule Skerry, Orkney in June 1908, and an adult observed at East Burra, Shetland over four summers during 2009-2012, showed features suggesting the east Siberian and Nearctic subspecies S. I. pallescens. If confirmed they would be the...McInerney, C J ; McGowan, R Y
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Poster (unpublished)
Bringing Scotland’s wilderness ‘within the reach of the people’: William Eagle Clarke (1853-1938) and representations of place
William Eagle Clarke was on the staff of the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, (now incorporated into National Museums Scotland) from 1888 to 1921. This poster presents two related aspects of his construct of representations of Scotland’s landscape.McGowan, R Y ; Swinney, Geoffrey N
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Journal article
The BOURC review of the 1869 specimen of American Goshawk from Perthshire
The Records Committee of the British Ornithologists' Union (BOURC) reconsiders old records of rare birds as part of its ongoing work. Recently reviews were undertaken of the two British records of the American subspecies of Goshawk Accipiter gentilis atricapillus: one in Perthshire in 1869, and the other on the Isles...McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
Hebridean Song Thrush: a centenary review of mainland occurrences.
Published occurrences of Hebridean Song Thrush from lcoations outside the Outer Hebrides were reviewed. Ornithologists such as E.R. Paton, N.F. Ticehurst, H. Whistler and R. Minertzhagen (and possibly A. Hazelwood and E. Gorton) appear to have confused darker clarkei-type individuals for genuine Hebridean birds; in consequence, reliable evidence for Hebridean...McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
"An outstanding man among Scottish ornithologists": Surgeon Rear-Admiral John Hutton Stenhouse (1865-1931)
A biographical sketch of John Hutton Stenhouse (1865-1931) is provided. This focuses on his contributions to ornithology in Scotland and to Scottish ornithology, most notably through his long association with the Royal Scottish Museum. His involvements with bird migration studies on Fair Isle and his influence on the subsequent development...McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
A genetic analysis of the first record of British Siberian Stonechat
A first-winter female Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maurus shot on the Isle of May in October 1913 was the first British record of this species, and one of the few British records that has been assigned to the nominate subspecies. DNA from the mounted specimen was analysed; it matched known specimens...Collinson, J M ; McGowan, R Y
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Journal article
First British records of ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ Subalpine Warblers
The recent proposal to reorganise the taxonomy of the Subalpine Warbler complex, and the identification of the first British ‘Subalpine Warbler’ (St Kilda, June 1894) as a Moltoni’s Warbler, led the BOU to review other early records and determine the first British records of both Eastern and Western Subalpine Warblers....Collinson, J M ; McGowan, R Y ; Irestedt, M
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Journal article
A genetic screen of the island races of Wren Troglodytes troglodytes in the North-east Atlantic
Capsule Atlantic Island Wrens are very closely related to mainland European populations. Aims The first genetic screen of the North-east Atlantic island subspecies of (Winter) Wren Troglodytes troglodytes was performed to resolve their relationship to mainland Eurasian and Nearctic populations. Methods The ND2 gene was sequenced from 15 wrens from...Shannon, Thomas J ; McGowan, R Y ; Zonfrillo, Bernie
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