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The British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC), established in 1959, is the national bird rarities committee for Britain. It assesses claimed sightings of bird species that are rarely seen in Britain, based on descriptions, photographs and video recordings submitted by observers. Its findings are published in an annual report in the journal ''British Birds''. The BBRC covers around 280 species whose annually recorded sightings in Britain fall below a threshold deemed to signify rarity. Since the establishment of the committee, some previously included species have become more common—or at least better recorded; this has resulted in their removal from the committee's list and their reclassification as "scarce migrants". The committee has a chairman, a secretary, and ten voting members, and is supported by others who serve in an advisory capacity. Since its inception, a total of 69 people have served on the committee as assessors. In addition to assessing annual records of rare birds, the committee conducts regular reviews of batches of previously accepted records on a species-by-species basis, to ensure that only those consistent with advances in knowledge of bird identification are retained, and to determine the subspecies of accepted records. Several species have been problematic for assessment, and extreme examples have taken more than 20 years from initial observation to acceptance. The committee has been criticised for its approach to assessing records where only one observer was present, for not publishing reasons for rejecting the validity of records, and for placing undue weight on descriptive detail when assessing record submissions. Seabird identification has proved particularly difficult, leading some observers to suggest that the committee sets too high a standard. ==Role and status== The "Rarity Records Committee" (as it was originally known) was established in 1959 by the editors of the journal ''British Birds''.〔The editors of ''British Birds'' (1959) Editorial: Records of Rare Birds ''British Birds'' 52(8): 241–44〕 Its original purpose was to provide a means whereby uniform assessment standards could be applied to all rare bird records across Britain.〔 Prior to the establishment of the committee, records were assessed by local bird recording organisations using varying standards.〔Dean (2007), p. 150〕 The most recent statement of the British Birds Rarities Committee's role is given in Bradshaw, Harvey and Steele (2004): BBRC aims to maintain an accurate database of the occurrence of rare taxa in Britain, in order to enable individuals or organisations to assess the current status of, and any changes in, the patterns of occurrence and distribution of these taxa in Britain. Contradictory information has been published on the exact nature of the committee's status. On its website,〔British Birds Rarities Committee, (BBRC website ) (retrieved 19 September 2007)〕 BBRC describes itself as the "official adjudicator of rare bird records in Britain" (although it does not say on what basis it has this status). In ''Birders: Tales of a Tribe'',〔Cocker (2001), p. 134〕 author Mark Cocker erroneously describes the committee as a "statutory vetting body" (i.e. one established by an Act of Parliament). BBRC's constitution states that it "has no automatic or legal expectation that birders submit records".〔(BBRC constitution ) (accessed 26 October 2007)〕 The committee does not assess records of birds from Ireland; that task is carried out by the Irish Rare Birds Committee, which publishes its decisions in ''Irish Birds''. Records of IRBC-assessed rarities were included in BBRC annual reports for many years, although this ceased in 2002 at the request of IRBC.〔BBRC report for 2001, pp. 476–78〕 Although the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee does not regard records from the Isle of Man as contributing towards their British list, BBRC does include records from there in its totals.〔BBRC report for 2006, pages 703-04〕 BBRC has had an ongoing sponsor in the German optical equipment manufacturer Carl Zeiss since 1983.〔Lansdown (1987), p. 487〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「British Birds Rarities Committee」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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