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MANCHESTER BIRDING SYSTEMATIC LIST AND BIRD RECORD DETAILS |
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KEY TO LIST HEADERS AND ABBREVIATIONS
SPECIES
The species list represents the complete list of species accepted as having occurred in the county and follow the guidelines of the British Ornithologists' Union and all national rarities are British Birds Rarities Committee accepted but county rarities preceding the inception of the County Rarities Committee (in 1992) are included on individual merit and after careful consideration of accounts at the time of the sightings.
STATUS COMMENTS
ABUNDANT: Occurs in large numbers in suitable habitats and seasons
COMMON: Occurs regularly or widely distributed in suitable habitat
FAIRLY COMMON: Occurs in moderate numbers in suitable habitat
UNCOMMON: Occurs in small numbers
SCARCE: One or two records each year or restricted to specific habitat
RARE: Occurs less than annually
VERY RARE: Occurs less than annually
VERY RARE: 2-10 records in the last 20 years
VAGRANT: One record in the last 20 years or ever
RECORDS REQUIRED COLUMN
A All records required
B Breeding records required (including Nest Records Card summaries) and copies of census sheets (Common Bird Census, Waterway Bird Survey)
BBRC Details of all sightings are required by the British Birds Rarities Committee, see here
C Counts required e.g. Wetland Bird Surveys (WeBS), winter flocks, include comparisons for previous years if possible
E Early and late dates required
GMRC Details of all sightings are required by the Greater Manchester County Rarities Committee, see here
H Hybrids required
M Movements, migration and passage records required
R Roosts required. Please include locations, umbers and periods of use
U Unusual behaviour, plumage required (e.g. albinism and melanism)
W Wintering records required
ADDITIONAL NOTES IN THE COMMENTS COLUMN ON INDIVIDUAL RECORDS
These will add to the readability of the county report and are always welcome, as are short articles (about 2-300 words) on the circumstances relating to the finding of county or national rarities or unusual behaviour, for the Short Notes section. information about breeding success or failure, particularly if a comparison can be made with previous years, is very valuable and summaries from Nest Record Cards (available form the BTO representative Steve Suttill here) are very much appreciated.
RECORD DETAILS
This section gives full details of occurrences of rare or particularly scarce county birds, highest flock numbers and other points of interest and included graphs, charts and links to other items of interest within this website. It is intended to be as complete as possible but of course some omissions or mistakes may creep in and I would appreciate being informed of any such occurrences as and when they are found but please bear in mind that it is still a work in progress as I research older records and assess some modern day ones, the list will be updated upon the publication of the Greater Manchester Annual Bird Report each year. Reviews of some county rarities (by the rarities committee) may be undertaken from time to time and any found not to meet the required standard will be removed from this list. I would like to thank the assistance of Ian Woosey in helping me research some of the details for this section.
ABBREVIATIONS
BBS- Breeding Bird Survey, GBS- Garden Bird Survey, NCR- Nest Record Card
ESCAPES AND RELEASES
Please report sightings of escaped and released species, along with any notes which may be relevant to their origin e.g. coloured leg rings, jesses etc.
| SPECIES/SUB SPECIES | CURRENT COUNTY STATUS | RECORDS REQUIRED | COMMENTS | RECORD DETAILS |
| Mute Swan | fairly common resident | B, C | DETAILS | |
| Bewick's Swan | rare winter visitor | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Whooper Swan | uncommon winter visitor and passage migrant | A | DETAILS | |
| Greater Snow Goose | vagrant, occasional feral birds | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Bean Goose | very rare winter visitor | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Pink-footed Goose | common winter/passage visitor | A | details of flight direction and skeins required, some feral birds are resident | DETAILS |
| Greylag Goose | uncommon feral resident and summer visitor | A | DETAILS | |
| White-fronted Goose | rare winter visitor, occasional feral birds | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Canada Goose | common resident | B,C | DETAILS | |
| Barnacle Goose | very rare winter visitor, most records are of feral birds | A | ||
| Brent Goose | rare migrant | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Egyptian Goose | scarce visitor, most are escapes | A | ||
| Common Shelduck | passage migrant and scarce breeder | A | DETAILS | |
| Red-crested Pochard | rare passage migrant and winter visitor, many are escapes | A | ||
| Canvasback | vagrant | A, BBRC | DETAILS | |
| Common Pochard | abundant winter visitor, uncommon breeder | B, C, H | DETAILS | |
| Ferruginous Duck | very rare winter visitor | A, BBRC | ||
| Ring-necked Duck | rare visitor | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Tufted Duck | abundant winter and passage visitor, uncommon breeder | B, C, H | DETAILS | |
| Greater Scaup | uncommon visitor, mainly winter | A | DETAILS | |
| Lesser Scaup | vagrant | A, BBRC | DETAILS | |
| Common Eider | very rare visitor, most are escapes | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Mandarin | uncommon naturalised resident, breeding since 1993 | A | DETAILS | |
| Common Scoter | uncommon passage migrant | A | DETAILS | |
| Velvet Scoter | very rare visitor | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Long-tailed Duck | rare visitor | A, GMRC | description required for female and immature plumaged birds | DETAILS |
| Smew | irregular, scarce winter visitor | A, GMRC | descriptions required for red-heads | DETAILS |
| Bufflehead | vagrant | A, BBRC | DETAILS | |
| Common Goldeneye | fairly common winter visitor, increasing summer records | C, E | records all records of summering birds required | DETAILS |
| Goosander | fairly common winter visitor, increasing summer records and rare breeding | A | records can be summarised at regular sites | DETAILS |
| Red-breasted Merganser | uncommon winter and passage visitor | A | DETAILS | |
| Ruddy Duck | A | all information will not be disclosed due to the current culling of Ruddy Ducks | ||
| Gadwall | uncommon localised resident and passage migrant, breeding since 1981 | B, C | DETAILS | |
| Eurasian Wigeon | Uncommon passage migrant and winter visitor | A | DETAILS | |
| American Wigeon | vagrant | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Blue-winged Teal | vagrant | A, BBRC | DETAILS | |
| Northern Shoveler | uncommon resident and fairly common passage/winter visitor, scarce breeder | B,C | DETAILS | |
| Mallard | abundant resident | B,C | DETAILS | |
| Northern Pintail | uncommon winter visitor and passage migrant | A | DETAILS | |
| Garganey | uncommon summer visitor and passage migrant, very rare breeder | A | DETAILS | |
| Common Teal | uncommon resident, common passage and winter visitor, scarce breeder | A | DETAILS | |
| Green-winged Teal | very rare visitor | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Red Grouse | uncommon resident | A | DETAILS | |
| Red-legged Partridge | uncommon introduction | A, H | details of releases required | |
| Grey Partridge | fairly common but declining localised resident | A | details of releases required | DETAILS |
| Common Quail | scarce migrant and summer visitor | A, GMRC | descriptions required for non-calling birds | DETAILS |
| Common Pheasant | common resident, frequent introductions for shooting | B, C, U | details of releases required and unusual plumages | |
| Red-throated Diver | rare winter visitor | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Black-throated Diver | very rare winter visitor | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Great Northern Diver | rare winter visitor | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| White-billed Diver | vagrant | A, BBRC | DETAILS | |
| Northern Fulmar | very rare visitor | A, GMRC | DETAILS | |
| Manx Shearwater | very rare autumn visitor | A, GMRC | stranded bird should be released at sea at night | DETAILS |