Despite irrefutable scientific evidence of severe declines in Sooty Tern colonies across the islands, the Seychelles government has announced plans to resume egg collection in 2026. National surveys by the Island Conservation Society (ICS) and the Ministry of Environment since 2021 show declines of 61–70%, with some colonies down by 90%. ICS therefore recommended a moratorium of at least 10 years. Instead, a two-year ban was introduced and later extended to 2025, With no sign of any meaningful recovery, ICS has strongly objected to the decision to resume harvesting.

This move is especially alarming given the biology of Sooty Terns, which take years to reach breeding age and recover slowly even under ideal conditions. Restarting harvesting will add to pressures from climate change, overfishing, and habitat loss, pushing fragile populations closer to collapse. It also undermines the moratorium’s purpose, reducing it to a token gesture rather than a serious conservation effort.

ICS argues that when stronger protection and enforcement are urgently needed—and illegal harvesting continues even in protected areas—lifting the ban sends the wrong signal. It threatens the species’ future and risks damaging Seychelles’ reputation as a leader in environmental stewardship.

In its press release, ICS highlights the fate of the Passenger Pigeon, once numbering 3–5 billion birds and driven to extinction within a century by industrial-scale hunting. While conservation was poorly understood then, that is no longer the case. To ignore clear declines in Sooty Terns and continue harvesting regardless is to repeat past mistakes—and history will judge that failure.

Two Common Redstarts - a male and a female- have been reported from Aride by Island Manager Jude Brice, and ICS conservation staff Mersiah Rose and Dina Sugar. SBRC has accepted 27 previous records. The birds were present from 27 February to 4 March. Remarkably, six of these previous records are from Aride. This is the first time more than one individual has been recorded at the same time.

On 7 February, Adrian Skerrett returned to Intendance with James Wareing to see if the Pheasant-tailed Jacana (see earlier post) was still, present. Its occurrence on Mahe is a world record for the species: the most southeasterly sighting ever. Indeed, it was still there, but this was not the only surprise.
 
On the opposite side of the Intendance wetland was a White-faced Whistling Duck, an African/South American species previously recorded in Seychelles six times. Five of these Seychelles records were in the Aldabra Group and one was at Mahe. This Intendance sighting is the world’s most easterly record for this species.
 
This is an extraordinary state of affairs. On one small stretch of water on Mahe, two species meet that technically should never encounter each other. They breed almost 5,000 kilometres away from each other, and each only usually migrates a few hundred kilometres at most, yet here they were happily feeding together.

In 2025, SBRC members considered 120 records, presented in summary in table one. The majority of records were accepted (108, exactly 90%), including seven submitted unidentified and a record misidentified as one vagrant but accepted as another. Eight records were classified as ‘unproven’ (that is, insufficient evidence to authenticate), two were pended for more discussion, and two were rejected as misidentified and not vagrant species of interest. Age, sex, and subspecies were assigned wherever possible.
 
A record pended in 2024 of Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka, was accepted in 2025 with a caveat regarding the slight possibility of Variable Wheatear O. picata. This was after taking expert advice from Ashwin Mohan, Brian Small and Peter Clements.

A copy of the report can be downloaded here.

: On 10 January 2026, Adrian Skerrett visited the Le Cheval site at Intendance. together with Steve Agricole. Due to heavy rain, they were confined to Adrian's car, but were able to record several vagrant species, namely six Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler and Cotton Pygmy Goose. With no sign of a break in the weather they left the site to check out Police Bay marsh. The rain petered out and they decided to have another shot at birding the Intendance wetland. This bird flew from water near the edge of the road almost as soon as we entered the hotel grounds. It is an adult non-breeding plumage Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus, one of the most remarkable vagrant sightings in Seychelles of all time. It is a first record for the western Indian Ocean.

 
:Adrian Skerrett, Lisa Wareing and James Wareing visited Intendance on 06 January 2026, There were 3 male and 3 female Northern Pintail Anas acuta present. Adrian had previously recorded a single male Northern Pintail on 20 December 2025. On the December dated a Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula and a Green-winged Teal Anas crecca    were also present while on the 6 January, a Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata was seen.

SBRC has previously recorded:

• 1 record of Cotton Pygmy Goose
• 2 records of Green-winged Teal
• 3 records of Tufted Duck
• 10 records of Northern Pintial
• 16 records of Northern Shoveler.

Below top left to bottom right: Male (at rear) and female Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Cotton Pygmy Goose and Tufted Duck (all photos: Adrian Skerrett)

James and Elisabeth Wareing have reported a Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola near the marsh, La Passe, Silhouette on 4 December 2025. This is the second record for Seychelles. The first record was recorded by Adrian Skerrett at Fregate on 16 April 1999 and was published in the Bulletin of the African Bird Club

Green-winged Teal (Adrian Skerrett)

A Green-winged Teal Mareca penelope was reported by Bjorn Anderson at the main pool, Lemuria Resort golf course, Praslin, on 24 November 2025. Adrian Skerrett, visiting the site on 1-2 December 2025 found the bird still present. This is just the second record for Seychelles
 

 The 2024 report of Seychelles Bird Records Committee has been released today.

In 2024, 155 reports were received by Seychelles Bird Records Committee and circulated to members for authentication. This is the highest number of reports received in any year since SBRC was founded in 1992. It is almost exactly the same figure as the three previous years 2021-2023 combined (156). 

The 2024 report is dedicated to the memory of Ian Bullock., who passed away due to melanoma in January 2025. It an be downloaded at this link:

SBRC Annual Report 2024