Podoces, 2008, 3(1/2): 1–30 Rare Birds in Iran in the Late 1960s and 1970s DEREK A. SCOTT Castletownbere Post Office, Castletownbere, Co. Cork, Ireland. Email:
[email protected] Received 26 July 2008; accepted 14 September 2008 Abstract: The 12-year period from 1967 to 1978 was a period of intense ornithological activity in Iran. The Ornithology Unit in the Department of the Environment carried out numerous surveys throughout the country; several important international ornithological expeditions visited Iran and subsequently published their findings, and a number of resident and visiting bird-watchers kept detailed records of their observations and submitted these to the Ornithology Unit. These activities added greatly to our knowledge of the status and distribution of birds in Iran, and produced many records of birds which had rarely if ever been recorded in Iran before. This paper gives details of all records known to the author of 92 species that were recorded as rarities in Iran during the 12-year period under review. These include 18 species that had not previously been recorded in Iran, a further 67 species that were recorded on fewer than 13 occasions, and seven slightly commoner species for which there were very few records prior to 1967. All records of four distinctive subspecies are also included. The 29 species that were known from Iran prior to 1967 but not recorded during the period under review are listed in an Appendix. Keywords: Rare birds, rarities, 1970s, status, distribution, Iran. INTRODUCTION Eftekhar, E. Kahrom and J. Mansoori, several of whom quickly became keen ornithologists.