Abstract

An orange-bellied Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros at Dungeness, Kent, in November 1981 was originally accepted by BBRC as being of an eastern subspecies but a subsequent BOURC review led to the rejection of all four records then accepted and the removal of any eastern subspecies from the British List. This paper charts our developing knowledge of the appearance and vagrant status of 'Eastern Black Redstart' and the ultimate reinstatement of the Dungeness bird as the first British record of the Asian subspecies group phoenicuroides/rufiventris/xerophilus.