Abstract

When considering additions to the British List, wildfowl are among the most controversial group of bird species for the British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee (BOURC) to consider. Their field identification is often straightforward but determining their provenance as either wild or of captive origin can be problematic. Falcated Duck Mareca falcata is no exception, with the assessment of this species’ position on the British List having lasted for more than 30 years. A bird at Welney, Norfolk, in 1986, and subsequently in Northamptonshire, has now been added to Category A of the British List, although opinion both within and outside the Committee remains divided. This paper provides an account of BOURC’s treatment of this challenging file.DistributionFalcated Duck breeds mainly in eastern Russia, in southern Siberia, Transbaikal, Amurland and Ussuriland. Its range extends west to the Angara River basin and the upper reaches of the River Yenisey, north to the headwaters of the Lena and Yana rivers, and east to Kamchatka, southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Outside Russia it also nests in Hokkaido (Japan) and south to northern Mongolia and northeast China (Delacour 1954; Cramp & Simmons 1977; Melnikov 2000; Reeber 2015). It favours water meadows and lakes in lowland valleys but it is nowhere common. The most recent surveys, in 2002–07, estimated a global population of 89,000 individuals, but the species is thought to be in decline (Cao et al. 2008; Reeber 2015) and it is currently classified by BirdLife International as ‘Near Threatened’ (BirdLife International 2019).