Eastern Red-rumped Swallow set to be added to British list ( www.birdguides.com )

Eastern Red-rumped Swallow, which has occurred twice in Britain, is set to become a new addition to the British list, following taxonomic changes confirmed by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC).

In the upcoming updates to version 14.2 of the IOC's World Bird List, which are rumoured to included some significant changes from a British-listing perspective, the Red-rumped Swallow complex has been split.

The nominate form, Cecropis daurica daurica, which is found from southern Siberia to the Amur River, northern Mongolia, western China and Transbaikalia, will become Eastern Red-rumped Swallow, with European Red-rumped (C d rufula) and African Red-rumped Swallows (C d melanocrissus) to be split and treated as full species in their own right.