SCOTLAND
Isles of Scilly: Fears rare songbird will never return to US



BBC
Tue, October 18, 2022 

A rare American songbird that landed on the Isles of Scilly will never make it back home, an expert has said.

Hundreds of birdwatchers have been on Bryher to see the Blackburnian warbler, which was blown off course by strong winds, during its migration south.

It is the first time the species has been spotted in England and the fourth time in the UK.

Lucy McRobert, of the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, said "it will probably never make it back again".

She added: "That instinct to migrate west to east isn't really there", and it would "probably try and head south again quite soon".

The young male, which is native to eastern North America, is thought to have been migrating to South America when it got caught in a storm.

Ms McRobert said the warbler, one of the passerine order, or perching birds, was only able to make the journey from west to east, not in the other direction.

She said: "They land in the UK and are unable to make it back."

The British Trust for Ornithology said previous sightings in the UK were on St Kilda in 2009, Fair Isle in 1988 and Skomer in 1961.

Bird watchers have travelled to the Isles of Scilly from as far as Shetland and Holland to catch a glimpse.