Red-headed Bunting: These birds breed way over in Central Asia where it is common throughout most of its range and migrates south to India for the winter. Although this individul has found itself on the Yorkshire coast.
A particularly tricky bird to pin down on ID as in their winter plumage they can appear similar to their cousins the black-handed bunting.
Fortunately DNA was collected by the way of a feather and sent over to Dr Martin Collinson, a renowened scientist who carries out analysis on bird DNA and has a big part to play in the identification, and sexing of rare and scares birds that find their way on to our shores.
The DNA results confirmed that the bird was indeed a red-handed bunting, and pending a review from the British Ornithologists Record Committie (BOURC) this could well be a first for Britain.
