Today brought some truly excellent news: the British Ornithologists’ Union has formally accepted the Chestnut Bunting I saw last October on Papa Westray, Orkney, finally placing the species on the British List.
In a statement released today, the BOU confirmed:
Chestnut Bunting Emberiza rutila
First-calendar-year male, Papa Westray, Orkney, 19–29 October 2015 (photographed).
The acceptance marks the end of a long and complicated journey for this species. Chestnut Bunting has historically had a difficult relationship with the British List, with all previous records relegated to Category E due to its former status as a commonly imported cage bird and the frequency of escapes.
Crucially, the BOU highlighted that following EU bans on bird importation from the Far East in 2005 and 2007, records of the species in western Europe declined sharply. The Papa Westray bird—a first-calendar-year individual found in the Northern Isles during autumn—possessed the right combination of age, timing, and location to strongly support natural arrival.
The statement went on to note that Chestnut Bunting is a plausible long-distance vagrant from the Eastern Palearctic, consistent with other accepted records in northern Europe. The species breeds across Siberia, northern Mongolia, and north-eastern China, migrating to winter in southern China, Southeast Asia, and north-east India. On that basis, the BOU concluded that the record met the criteria for natural occurrence and should be placed on the British List immediately after Yellow-breasted Bunting (Emberiza aureola).
For those of us fortunate enough to have seen the bird on Papa Westray, this decision feels particularly satisfying. Northern Isles autumns have an uncanny ability to produce birds that challenge assumptions, and this individual did exactly that. Its acceptance is not only a personal milestone, but also a reminder of how our understanding of vagrancy continues to evolve as global patterns—and human influences—change.
A rare bird, a remote island, and patience rewarded at last.
