KIST J & WALDECK K (1961) First record of Pechora Pipit Anthus gustavi in the Netherlands. LIMOSA 34 (1): 6-11.

Pechora Pipit Anthus gustavi SummaJy: Fir s t r e cor d 0 f Anthus gustavi i nth e Net her I and s. On May 30th, 1960, on Noord Beveland (one of the islands of the province of Zeeland) three pipits were observed fouraging on a muddy grass land. By their striking plumage they could be distinguished at once from two Meadow Pipits which were feeding their fledged young at the same place. The upper parts were a warm brown (without olivaceous tinge) with a gloss of red copper, heavily streaked blackish and edged with light buffish yellow; the under parts were whitish yellow, boldly streaked and spotted on the sides of the throat, the breast and flanks. On the upper back and mantle the light edges formed on each side two rather conspicuous snipe-stripes, whilst the dark streaking on the upper parts extended up to the rump and upper tail-coverts. The head was finely streaked and showed no obvious supercilium nor a moustachial stripe. The legs were of a bright yellowish pink; the bill was of a yellowish fle3h-colour with a brown tip and ridge of the upper mandible. In flight the birds showed no white in the tail. The hind toe had a long nail. The flight note was a rather soft and not shrill fweet, not resembling any of the call-notes of other Dutch Anthusspecies. Though the current handbooks do not mention a marked difference between the winter- and summer plumage of Anthus gustavi, examination of two skins from the British Museum proved the birds to be Petchora Pipits in fresh summer plumage. SEEBOHM who shot gustavi in their breeding area, described this species as a large and brilliantly coloured Tree Pipit. The Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum writes: Some of the specimens from Amoy in Mr. SEEBOHM'S collection are very rufescent above ...... and apparently show that this Pipit is more richly coloured on its return to its breeding-quarters . In winter gustavi is a much darker, less rufous bird owing to the fact that the blackish streaks on the back are larger and merge into each other. In this plumage the edges of the feathers of the back are more whitish, less yellowish and form only one snipe-stripe on each Side. The outer tail-feathers too are in winter less rufous, more smoky white to whitish. This is the first occurrence of Anthus gustavi in the Netherlands and the first spring record for Europe outside Russia. It is assumed that the three Petchora Pipits straggled in the autumn of 1959 to Europe and wintered there. On January 4th, 1957, another Pipit was seen in the Netherlands which probably also was a Petchora Pipit. 11

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