Abstract

ABSTRACT A Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach was present at Howmore, South Uist,Western Isles, on 3rd and 4th November 2000.What was probably the same bird had been seen at nearby Howbeg on 27th October 2000. This constitutes the first record for Britain.The likely origins and racial identity of the bird are discussed.he autumn of 2000, particularly October, brought an exciting mixture of vagrants and scarce migrants to northern and western Scotland. In Shetland, these included a Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus on Fair Isle on 21st October, while on the Outer Hebrides we had enjoyed vagrants of predominantly Nearctic origin, with an influx of American waders in the Uists, a Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus on Lewis, and a hotly debated female Hooded Merganser Lophodytes cucullatus on North Uist which, ultimately, was accepted onto Category D of the British List. As local birders contemplated what could be next to turn up, Jon Brain reported seeing what he thought was a male Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio fly into a garden at the Howbeg road junction, South Uist, on 27th October. He saw it only briefly, at dusk, when returning home from a day's fishing, and his views were far from conclusive. Red-backed Shrike is a genuinely scarce migrant on the Outer Hebrides, with fewer than 25 records at the time of writing. As most of these have been autumn records of juveniles, anadult male in late October seemed a little odd. I was due to leave the islands the following day but, as Howbeg