Rare White-Throated Needletail Spotted in Yorkshire After 34 Years

On October 9th, 2025, a rare white-throated needletail bird was spotted at the Tophill Low Nature Reserve in East Yorkshire, England. This sighting marks the first time the bird has been seen in the country since 1991, and only the second time it has appeared in Yorkshire, with the previous sighting occurring near Ferrybridge in 1985.

The white-throated needletail, a relative of the UK's native swift species, is a native of East Asia and Australia. Its distinctive long, sabre-shaped wings and bullet-shaped body caught the attention of visitors Mandy Gregory and Ray Maddison, who first spotted the bird on Wednesday afternoon. They quickly alerted the reserve's lead nature adviser, Richard Hampshire, who confirmed the rare and special nature of the visitor.

Within an hour, the news had spread, and around 50 people had arrived at the reserve to catch a glimpse of the bird. Hampshire described the white-throated needletail as "probably the second-rarest bird to appear in 60 years at Tophill Low," after an Amur falcon was seen there in 2008. The reserve, which is home to a variety of other wildlife, including otters, barn owls, kingfishers, bitterns, and grass snakes, was also visited by a pair of blue-winged teal, a species native to North America, just last year.