White-crowned Wheatear | A Twitcher's Homepage

White-crowned Wheatear - Oenanthe leucopyga

At the end of September 2014 a black-and-white bird was seen in the Poelgeest, a new part of Oegstgeest, a suburb near Leiden ZH. On 6 October Dana Valckx photographed the bird and sent the picture to Nico Kranenburg. Nico alarmed other birders and on the same afternoon suddenly the message appeared on the DB Alerts: "White-crowned Wheatear in Oegstgeest. Please respect the people living there!". The bird was actually an adult (or 2nd calendar-year) White-crowned Wheatear Oenanthe leucopyga! Birders came from everywhere and the bird was seen till dark. I was on Vlieland so I could not be earlier than the next day. But the bird stayed long enough for me to see it on 7 October! The bird was still present on 2 December (time of updating this part).

7 October 2014, Poelgeest, Oegstgeest ZH; © Jan van der Laan.

12 November 2014, Poelgeest, Oegstgeest ZH; © Jan van der Laan.

In the end it was not accepted, as the bird proved to be an escape from illegal bird trade. Moreover, the bird was missing two nails from the toes, one nail was long and curved and the plumage was in a bad state. The moult seemed at least three months behind the normal schedule and the habitat could be considered a-typical.

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White-crowned Wheatear - Oenanthe leucopyga

7 October 2014 2014, Poelgeest, Oegstgeest ZH; © TheGrouch1957.