The polaris subspecies of Little Auk Alle alle on the British List

Abstract

• 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 accepted by the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC), with an adult female collected from near Lerwick, Minland, Shetland on 19 Januray 1956 identified as the first record for Britain (BOU 2018b).