Indian Golden Oriole: New for the Western Palearctic

Formerly treated as conspecific with Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus, the Indian Golden Oriole (or Kundoo Oriole) Oriolus kundoo is now regarded as a separate species by many authorities, including the IOC. Although there are resident birds in India, part of the population migrates north and west to breed in central Asia as far north as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, with all birds wintering on the Indian subcontinent. Adult males differ from Golden Oriole in having a more extensive black face mask (running over and behind the eye, not just confined to the lores), as well as bright yellow tips to the tertials and inner secondaries and predominately yellow outer tail feathers (not just yellow at the distal half).

Indian Golden Oriole, Holy Island, Northumberland (© Neil Hinchliff)

A Golden Oriole was found on Holy Island, Northumberland, on the morning of 21st May, and the news was broadcast as such. This did not seem out of place, given the good number of records around the country this spring. The bird was a first-summer male, and after the true identity of the bird was suggested by the finder, mid-afternoon examination of photographs showed that the bird did indeed show characteristics of Indian Golden Oriole, in particular the more extensive face mask and shorter primary projection than Golden Oriole. Unfortunately it was seen to fly west-northwest at around 1pm, after which time birders had left the island before the tide flooded the causeway, and the bird was not seen subsequently.

This is a remarkable record and will, if accepted, be the first, not just for Britain but also for the Western Palearctic. It is not completely without precedent, however, with other extreme rarities sharing similar ranges such as Sulphur-bellied Warbler (also in Denmark) and Long-tailed Shrike (also in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland (2), and Sweden) having been recorded in Britain and species such as Hume's Whitethroat (form althaea) and Pied Bush Chat having been found as vagrants in, respectively, Finland and the Netherlands, and Finland (3), Georgia, Italy, and Sweden.

 

FEW DAYS AWAY BIRDING

21st May 

Visiting friends on the way down to Birmingham news broke that a Roseate tern had been found at Marsh lane nature reserve,the bird showed well as soon as I arrived on site.

This was a new site for me so I had a good walk around and had booming Bittern and a close encounter with a Cettis wabler.

22nd May

Waking up early this morning I visited the county of Cambridgeshire and headed straight for Fen drayton lakes where I managed to find the 1st summer Red footed falcon sat out on top of a popular tree.These are great birds and it was nice to catch up with this showy male,Cheshire is due one of these 🙏

Moving on from here I drove to Ouse fen RSPB where after a short walk the Great reed warbler could be heard singing away and eventually showed really well.I havent seen one of these for years so it was nice just to sit and watch this beauty on me own singing away.Two bitterns flew out of the reed bed in front of me which was also good to see.

 

After great views of the Great reed I drove back and called in at Paxton pits on the way home where I had stunning views of Nightingale,two were seen and this finished off a good days birding!

AT LAST A NEW BIRD!INDIGO BUNTING😎

I was eating dinner at home today when the mega alert went off!

At last a new bird! I jumped straight in the car with Jenna, and we were off her first twitch! Having missed the St. Agnes bird on the Scilly Isles in late October 2020 by minutes, this was my second attempt. Two and a half hours later, after a good run, Peter kindly lets me into his house, where the Indigo is showing on his bird feeders. What a bird!

A mega-rarity from North America wouldn't have been on many people's bingo cards in a week that felt 'drifty' for European migrants, yet it was the first-summer male Indigo Bunting that firmly occupied the minds of twitchers over the weekend. Found by the astounded Peter Bell in his garden at Whitburn, Co. Durham, on the 18th, the bird will prove the fourth British record if accepted as wild. Interestingly, another first-summer male was found in southeast Iceland on the 19th, while a probable was reported at Skagen, Denmark, on the 9th.  The species is known in captivity in Europe, which has led to some speculation about this bird's origins. Wild-caught Indigo Buntings were commonly imported, mainly from Mexico, in the late 1960s through the 1980s, but imports have dried up since. This coincides with two British records consigned to Category E—namely adult males at Wells Wood, Norfolk, in October 1988 and Flamborough, East Yorkshire, in May 1989—and a spike in records across Europe that presumably related to escapes from captivity. More recently, three birds in the Netherlands in the spring of 2019 were captive escapes. That said, records of escaped birds have largely dried up since the ban on wild imports, and its age is right for a wayward vagrant. Perhaps it arrived during 2023's bumper autumn for 'Yanks', wintered somewhere in southern Europe or North Africa, and is now on its way heading north.

A great bird Just have to see now if the powers that be accept this Indigo bunting as the fourth for Britain😎

Previous Records

1996, Pembrokeshire, Ramsey Island, first-winter male, 18th to 26th October

2013, Anglesey, Menai Bridge, male, 20th May

2020, Isles Of Scilly, Big Pool, St Agnes, 1CY, 25-26 October