Red-headed Bunting has been moved to Category A of the British list, the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee has announced, with a bird in Shetland in 2010 becoming the first wild record of the species in Britain. The bunting was previously languishing in Category D, with a long history of escaped birds in Britain. The 2010 bird in question, present in Out Skerries from 2-8 October, was identified in the field as a Black-headed Bunting and accepted as such by the BBRC, until a recent review.

Red-headed Bunting has been moved to Category A of the British list, the British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee (BOURC) has announced today, with a bird in Shetland in 2010 becoming the first wild record of the species in Britain.

The bunting, a migratory breeder that nests in Central Asia and winters in the Indian Subcontinent, was previously languishing in Category D, with a long history of escaped birds in Britain.