An apparent nineteenth-century record of Scopoli’s Shearwater in Hampshire

McInerny, Christopher J; McGowan, Robert Y; Clark, John M; Moody, Marc P; Senfeld, Tereza; Collinson, J Martin; Harrop, Andrew H J

An apparent nineteenth-century record of Scopoli’s Shearwater in Hampshire

Resource type

Journal article

Creator (person)

McInerny, Christopher J

McGowan, Robert Y

Clark, John M

Moody, Marc P

Senfeld, Tereza

Collinson, J Martin

Harrop, Andrew H J

Date published

April 2023

Abstract

A putative specimen of a Great Shearwater Ardenna gravis from Hampshire, dated 1878, was located at Leicester Museums & Galleries. On examination, it was found to be a male Scopoli’s Shearwater Calonectris diomedea. If shown to have a wild origin, the specimen would potentially represent the first British record of the taxon, which is extremely rare vagrant to Britain. Although the identification was confirmed, a critical consideration of the provenance of the specimen cast some doubts about its origin, We therefore suggest that the record does not have the credentials for consideration as a first for Britain. The paper describes the processes that led to this conclusion.

Journal title

British Birds

Volume

116

Issue

4

Publisher

British Birds

Place of publication

St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex

ISSN

0007-0335

Official URL

https://britishbirds.co.uk/content/apparent-nineteenth-century-record-scopoli%E2%80%99s-shearwater-hampshire#:~:text=On%20examination%2C%20it%20was%20found%20to%20be%20a,taxon%2C%20which%20is%20an%20extremely%20rare%20vagrant%20to

Rights statement

In Copyright