Oriental Pratincole
Glareola maldivarum Forster, JR, 1795 (1, 0)
Photo © Graham Catley - Frampton Marsh, Lincolnshire, May 2010
STATUS
Eurasia and the Orient. Monotypic.
OVERVIEW
This record was discovered after a review of pratincole specimens during 2023-24 predating the original 1981 first record..
RECORD
1). 1908 Outer Hebrides Eilean Mor, Flannan Isles, adult female, obtained, 13th July, DNA analysis, now at National Museums of Scotland (NMS.Z 1908.130).
(W. E. Clarke, Annals of Scottish Natural History 1908: 256; Eds., British Birds 2: 245; Clarke, 1912; Baxter & Rintoul, 1953; C. J. McInerny et al., British Birds 117: 152-167, plates 117 & 118).
History Wm. Eagle Clarke (1908) in the Annals of Scottish Natural History, Vol. XVII. p. 256, says: 'The occurrence of an example of Glareola pratincola [sic] at such an out-of-way spot as the Flannan Islands, affords another remarkable instance, among many, of the appearance of migratory birds at places far removed from their accustomed seasonal haunts and on the routes followed to reach them. The bird referred to was adult female, and the date of its visit was 13th July. This is the third recorded occurrence of this Pratincole in Scotland.'
In an Editorial (1908) in British Birds, Vol. II. p. 245, he says: 'An adult female Glareola pratincola [sic] was obtained on July 13th, 1908, at this out-of-the-way spot. It is the third example of the species obtained in Scotland (W. Eagle Clarke, Ann. S.N.H., 1908, p. 256).'
