Brown Noddy
Anous stolidus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Photo © By B.navez - Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1303364
STATUS
Widespread in Tropical Oceans. Polytypic.
OVERVIEW
Species not admitted nationally (BOU 1971).
NOT PROVEN
0). c. 1891 Cheshire & Wirral Dee Estuary, immature, shot, winter.
(F. Congreve, Field 9th Oct., 1897: 592; F. Congreve, Zoologist 1897: 510; W. R, p. Bourne, Birding World 5: 389).
[Coward & Oldham, 1900; H. F. Witherby & N. F. Ticehurst, British Birds 2: 308; BOU, 1915].
History F. Congreve of Burton Hall, Neston, Chester (1897) in The Field of 9th Oct., Vol. XC. p. 592, says: 'While looking through a collection of stuffed birds lately, I saw and obtained a specimen which has since been identified as the Noddy Tern (Sterna stolida, Linn.). It is in immature plumage, the grey crown being just visible. It was shot on the Dee marshes in the winter, about six years ago. As I believe this species of tern has been only twice recorded to have occurred in Europe, I think this specimen is worth mentioning.'
F. Congreve of Burton Hall, Neston, Chester (1897) in The Zoologist, 4th series, Vol. I. p. 510, says: 'The other day, when looking through a collection of stuffed birds, I saw and obtained a specimen which has since been identified as the Noddy Tern, Sterna stolida, Linn.; it is in immature plumage, the grey in the crown being just visible. It was shot on the Dee marshes in winter about six years ago. As I believe this Tern has been only twice recorded in Europe, I think this specimen worth mention.'
P.S. - I obtained the Noddy from a small private collection belonging to Mr. Lawton, an ex-tenant of my father's. He killed and stuffed it himself. It is at present in our collection at Burton Hall, but it has been identified by the taxidermist of Liverpool Museum, and by Dr. Herbert Dobie, of Chester. - F. L. Congreve.
Coward & Oldham (1900: 229-231) placing the record in square brackets, say: 'In the Field for 1897 a note appeared from Mr. F. Congreve of Burton Hall to the effect that he had obtained a locally killed specimen of the Noddy Tern. He states that the specimen, which is in immature plumage, the grey crown being just visible, was shot on the Dee Marshes in winter, about six years previously. Dr. Dobie, who has carefully examined the bird and investigated the occurrence, writes us as follows: - "I paid a visit to Wm. Lawton, Denhall, on January 2nd, 1898, and the following note I made immediately afterwards: - "Mr. William Lawton is an intelligent man of about sixty-five years of age, with all his faculties about him. He has shot many birds in the marshes and has taken an interest in stuffing them. He has sons who are sailors and have sent him home birds from various parts. Many of them he has put up in a large case. He has also a case of English seabirds, and amongst them a specimen of Cape Pigeon, of which he gives the history and for which he does not claim any British origin. He has not put up any case for twenty years".
Questioned about the Noddy Tern which he let Mr. Francis Congreve have, he says that "he set no store by it". He always considered it a kind of "Mother Carey's Chicken", of which he says he has shot different kinds. He shot the Noddy about seven years ago (or it might have been more), about five hundred yards from Denhall Quay. He thinks it was in winter. He stuffed it himself, cut a stand for it with a circular saw and "granited" it over. The bird came flying past him (i.e., he did not flush it). It was never put in a case, but was knocking about the house. He is absolutely certain that it is the bird he shot. That he is perfectly honest in this belief there can be no question: the weak point in the evidence is that there are foreign birds in his house which have been sent him by his sons, and there is the possibility that a Noddy thus obtained may have been confused in his mind with the bird he shot. He, however, will not hear of this for a moment. There seems no possibility of getting confirmatory evidence".
With these facts before us we can only agree with Dr. Dobie that, although there is a possibility that this bird was actually killed on the Dee Marshes, the evidence is insufficient to warrant the inclusion of the Noddy in the Cheshire list. It must be borne in mind that this tropical species is not likely to occur upon our coasts - some authorities, indeed, refuse to recognise it even as a casual wanderer to Europe.'
H. F. Witherby & N. F. Ticehurst (1909) in British Birds, Vol. II. p. 308, under 'On the More Important Additions to our Knowledge of British Birds since 1899', who say: 'For further details with regard to the specimen said to have been shot on the Dee marshes see Coward and Oldham, Birds of Cheshire, p. 229.'
Comment Provenance uncertain. Not acceptable.
0). 1914 Sussex Fairlight, female, found dying, 21st October.
(F. W. Frohawk, Field 19th Nov., 1925: 879; Walpole-Bond, 1938).
[E. M. Nicholson & I. J. Ferguson-Lees, British Birds 55: 299-384 HR].
History F. W. Frohawk (1925) in The Field of 19th Nov., Vol. CXLVI. p. 879, says: 'On November 10th last, the disposal took place at Stevens' Auction Rooms, Covent Garden, of the first portion of the very remarkable collection of British birds, formed by the late Sir Vauncey Harpur Crewe, Bart., during about fifty years of his life....A Noddy Tern, captured under the cliff at Fairlight, near Hastings, October 21st, 1914, sold for £3. 5s.'
Walpole-Bond (1938 (3): 261) placed the record in square brackets.
Comment Hastings rarity. Not acceptable.
0). 1930 Sussex Pebsham, male, obtained, 29th October.
(G. C. Low, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 53: 78; N. F. Ticehurst, Hastings and East Sussex Naturalist 4: 114; Walpole-Bond, 1930).
[BOURC (1933), Ibis 75: 347; E. M. Nicholson & I. J. Ferguson-Lees, British Birds 55: 299-384 HR].
History G. Carmichael Low, Editor (1932) in the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, Vol. LIII. p. 78, at the 359th Meeting of the Club held on 14th December 1932 at Pagani's Restaurant, London, says: 'Mr. Griffith [A. F. Griffith] also exhibited a male Noddy (Anous stolidus), apparently the first sufficiently authenticated British specimen of this species, though a considerable number have been alleged to have been taken here, some of them almost certainly genuine wanderers to Britain from their mid-Atlantic nesting-places. It was shot by Capt. W. E. Dance at Petsham, near Bexhill, Sussex, as it came up from the lower marsh near the St. Leonards pumping station, October 29, 1930. He had now acquired it for the Booth Museum.'
N. F. Ticehurst (1932) in the Hastings and East Sussex Naturalist, Vol. IV. p. 114, says: 'A male was shot at Bulverhythe on October 29th by Capt. Dance, agent for the Pebsham Estate (G. Bristowe) [sic]. Only three other specimens of this bird are said to have been obtained in British waters and none of them are considered to be sufficiently authentic to give the species a place in the British List.'
Not admitted nationally in the Ninth List Report as the evidence was insufficient to enable the species to be added to the British List (BOURC (1933) Ibis 75: 347).
Walpole-Bond (1938 (3): 261) placed the record in square brackets.
Comment Hastings rarity. Not acceptable.
