North-African Short-toed Lark

A Short-toed Lark was found on 23rd May 2013 in a field in Zoetermeer
near The Hague in The Netherlands. As can be seen in the pictures the
bird had a strikingly  reddish-coloured crown and even a pale pinkish
rump. A picture of the bird has now been published in the new Handbook
of Western Palearctic Birds, part 1 (Helm Bloomsbury, 2018) , on
pp.63-64. The authors mr. Shirihai & Svensson made it clear that the
bird belonged to the North-African population hence it’s name
C.b.hermonensis syn rubiginosa woltersi. There is to my knowledge no
previous record of this taxon in Europe with the exception of Malta.

North-african-Short-toed-Lark-Calandrella-brachydactyla-hermonensis-Syn-rubiginosa-23052013-3835-ZoetermeerThe-Netherlands-c-Norman-Deans-van-Swelm.jpg

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North-african-Short-toed-Lark-Calandrella-brachydactyla-hermonensis-Syn-rubiginosa-23052013-4597-ZoetermeerThe-Nethherlands-c-Norman-Deans-van-Swelm.jpg

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North-african-Short-toed-Lark-Calandrella-brachydactyla-hermonensis-Syn-rubiginosa-male-23052013-3825-ZoetermeerThe-Netherlands-c-Norman-Deans-van-Swelm.jpg