Phylloscopus inornatus

Amber List

Yellow-browed Warbler was first recorded on St Kilda in 1957 and remained a very rare autumn passage migrant until 2005, after which there was a sharp increase in numbers being recorded. This points to the species establishing new wintering grounds in the west rather than being lost or displaced vagrants.

Yellow-browed Warbler is now a scarce autumn passage migrant from mid-September to November on Lewis and Harris. It is also scarce but increasingly uncommon on the Uists and Barra and is now often the most abundant warbler on Barra in late September / October. It is rare on St. Kilda with 13 records (1957, 1990, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2020, 2022), and very rare on North Rona (1964), and the Isle of Shillay (1961).

Some late birds will occasionally linger into early December and there is only one record of a Yellow-browed Warbler in mid-December, that of a bird on Barra in 2020.

There are no records from Vatersay.

More detailed information can be found here

Yellow-browed Warbler © John Kemp

Yellow-browed Warbler © John Kemp