In order that an entirely accurate archive of records of rare and scarce species is maintained it is clearly important to apply consistent standards to the acceptance of such records. This is ensured through a system of assessment of written descriptions of the circumstances of the occurrence and of the bird itself. Those who make use of our reports in the future must have confidence that all published records have been scrutinised and considered acceptable by the birding community of today.
A three-tier system of record assessment exists:
British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) assesses records of extreme rarities, in a British context. The full committee contains ten voting members of which at least nine must vote in favour of a record for it to be accepted.
A list of species currently considered by BBRC can be found at BBRC list
Scottish Birds Records Committee (SBRC) assesses records of birds rare in a Scottish context but not sufficiently rare to be assessed by BBRC. The committee consists of seven voting members of which at least six must vote in favour.
A list of species currently considered by SBRC can be found at SBRC list
Moray & Nairn Rarities Committee (MNRC) assesses slightly less rare Scottish species and all other local rarities. The committee consists of five voting members of which at least four must vote in favour for a record to be accepted. Current membership of MNRC is Martin Cook, Roy Dennis, Duncan Gibson, Bob Proctor and Dave Pullan.
The following species are currently on the MNRC list:
| Bewick’s Swan | Bean Goose | American Wigeon |
| Green-winged Teal | Garganey (not ad.M) | Ring-necked Duck |
| Ruddy Duck (not ad.M) | Surf Scoter (not ad.M) | Balearic Shearwater |
| Leach’s Petrel | Red-necked Grebe | Black-necked Grebe |
| White Stork | Spoonbill | Bittern |
| Great White Egret | Little Egret | Honey-buzzard |
| Rough-legged Buzzard | Hobby | Spotted Crake |
| Corncrake | Crane | Avocet |
| Little Ringed Plover | American Golden Plover | Temminck’s Stint |
| Pectoral Sandpiper | Buff-breasted Sandpiper | Red-necked Phalarope |
| Grey Phalarope | Long-tailed Skua | Sabine’s Gull |
| Ring-billed Gull | Black Tern | |
| Roseate Tern | Turtle Dove | Nightjar |
| Hoopoe | Wryneck | Green Woodpecker |
| Red-backed Shrike | Great Grey Shrike | Golden Oriole |
| Bearded Tit | Shore Lark | Pallas’s Warbler |
| Yellow-browed Warbler | Reed Warbler | Icterine Warbler |
| Lesser Whitethroat | Firecrest | Nuthatch |
| Rose-coloured Starling | Bluethroat | Black Redstart |
| Yellow Wagtail | Richard’s Pipit | Water Pipit |
| Common Rosefinch | Hawfinch | Lapland Bunting |
Other species recorded for the first time in Moray & Nairn, and not on BBRC or SBRC lists, are also assessed by MNRC.
If you find a rare species in Moray & Nairn, please complete a record form for the relevant committee (downloadable below) and pass the form to the recorder (Martin Cook) who will forward it to the committee.
Records of species on the lists of BBRC, SBRC or MNRC will only appear in Birds in Moray & Nairn following acceptance of the record by the relevant committee. It must be stressed, however, that the failure of a record to be accepted by a committee does not imply disbelief of the observer, or that the observer is mistaken in the identification; simply that not quite enough evidence has been assimilated by the observer in the time or conditions available.