Colour aberrations in birds have been my main research focus for more than 30 years, during which I have learnt that identifying and naming these aberrations still presents problems for ornithologists. Many terms for the different colour aberrations have been proposed during the last 175 years. These terms, however, have apparently been used at random to identify aberrations in published records, creating much confusion. Leucism seems to be the most commonly used term and is […]

Swallows and martins are admired for their graceful flight, their long migratory journeys and their often close association with humans, but they are probably not at the top of birders’ lists in Africa. In particular, the small and dull-coloured martins cannot compete with more “attractive” African bird species and may sometimes even pose identification challenges. Consequently, they are mostly only noticed when “nothing else” is to be seen. It is this lack of attention that […]

The Hastings Rarities has been a scandal within the birding world since the 1960s, when George Bristow was alleged to have carried out one of the biggest frauds in birding history. However, has the extent of his involvement perhaps been exaggerated and misinformation accepted for all these years? In 1962, two papers (1,2) and an editorial (3) were published in an issue of British Birds, which proposed the deletion of 542 specimen and 53 sight […]