BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="rob stoff" data-source="post: 1197576" data-attributes="member: 20760">There was a time when ship assistance was considered a bar to acceptance on the British List, the rule was then changed. The new rule, as i recall it is, or was (?), that it is perfectly ok for a bird to get here by ship so long as there is no evidence that it has been confined or deliberately fed, ships being, in the modern world, a big bit of flotsam (so yes flotsam is specifically allowed). Now many birds could get here on ships and some of these could have been fed by little old ladies on liners etc but if nobody knew that was the case no problem. In any case the very large majority of these birds will be North American migrants that have found themseleves in the Atlantic and landed on ships there and been carried to Europe, most of the species involved could probably make the journey unassisted by ship given very favourable winds. The suggestion of another change in the rule seems to come as a result of worries that certain species that could never conceivably get here under their own steam could arrive by ship having been fed or confined without this being known about. The classic example is a Snowy Sheathbill that came back from the Falklands/Malvinas with the 'task force'. It is documented that that bird was deliberately fed en route (hence not acceptable) but it is quite possible that another could arrive in the same way, along with a host of other impossible wild vagrants, without the evidence of their being fed (or housed) being available, in which case there would be no justification for keeping them off the British List where they probably don't really belong. Rob</blockquote>

Verification