Birds of Huddersfield
By E. J. C. Swabey & E. W. Aubrook

The first publication dealing exclusively with the birds of the Huddersfield district was written by the late S.L. Mosley in 1915. Changes in the status of many of the birds referred to therein have occurred since that time, and the present list attempts to set out the position of species as far as it is known today.

The classification is that of the B.O.U. Check-list of the Birds of Great Britain and Ireland (1952) which is based on the Wetmore arrangement beginning with divers and ending with Passerines.

The area under consideration is bounded to the north-west by the River Ryeburn, to the north by the River Calder, to the west by the main Pennine range, and to the south by the drainage area of the River Don.

Huddersfield lies north of the centre of this area so that the list is compiled from records made within an area whose boundaries vary from approximately four to ten miles from the town.

The district possesses a varied topography, resulting from the underlying rock of millstone grit to the west and the lower and middle coal measures to the east. Thus in the former area are found cotton grass moorland, with heather and bilberry in places, and upland pastures and gorse, whilst further east are dry and moist oak woods, coniferous plantations, extensive parkland, orchards and agricultural land, both pasture and arable. Though the polluted rivers of the district sustain little bird life, the reservoirs of the Pennines are favourite resting and feeding sites for migrating wild fowls and waders.

The following terms are used to describe the status of the species:

1 RESIDENTS – birds which breed in the district and which may be observed here at all times in the year.
2 SUMMER RESIDENTS – birds which appear in spring, breed during the summer, and leave for southern winter quarters in the autumn.
3 WINTER VISITORS – birds which breed outside the area and in many cases outside the British Isles, and which appear here during the winter months.
4 PASSAGE MIGRANTS – birds which breed further north or beyond our islands and visit us on their way to winter quarters elsewhere.
5 IRREGULAR VISITORS – birds which appear occasionally either as accidental wanderers or as exceptional long distance travelers.
6 SPASMODIC OR IRRUPTIONAL VISITORS – birds which from time to time invade the British Isles in large numbers, apparently traveling west or south from overcrowded breeding quarters.

The number of species recorded within the area is 186. While the great majority of these have been substantiated by recent observations, rarities mentioned by Mosley, where the record was a definite one, have been included from their historical interest. The list can be analysed as follows:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the preparation of this list we have had the benefit of the observations of many naturists too numerous to list in full, but we should particularly like to express our indebtedness to Messrs T.D. Bisiker, A.L. Collins, R. Crossley, J.C.S. Ellis, G. Harrison, R. Jones, O. White, and G, Write, and to those Halifax naturalists whose observations are recorded annually in the Naturalist. We wish to thank also Mr. P. Brawn for the photograph of a lapwing which appears on the cover, and Mr. J. Carruthers for much advice on the presentation of the list.

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