HAZEVOET K, VLEK R & VOGELZANG F (1993) The 1901 Housing Law and the Crested Lark Gaferida cristata as a breeding bird in Amsterdam. LIMOSA 66 (4): 145-152.

Crested Lark Galerida cristata During the last two decades, the number of Crested Larks breeding in Amsterdam and in The Netherlands in general has decreased dramatically. Although the species established itself in The Netherlands during the early 19th century and had become widespread as a breeding bird around 1900, it first bred in Amsterdam only as late as the InOs. At that time, vast building schemes were carried out in the southern and western outskirts of the Dutch capital, temporarily offering ruderal habitats to the species. During this period the local population may have amounted to 10-20 pairs. In 1935 a huge plan was launched for the construction of large suburbs in the western, southern and northern parts of the city. In 1937 the work started but it was topped later due to war conditions. During 1940-45, construction sites laid waste for several years. By 1946-48 the Crested Lark population had increased to 30-35 pairs. In the early 1950s building activities were resumed and much new ruderal habitat became available. The population gradually increased, reaching a maximum of 75-80 pairs during the I960s. Although further town extentions in the southeastern part of Amsterdam continued to provide new habitat, a decrease became apparent from the 1970s onwards. During the mid-1970s there were still 5060 breeding pairs but by the mid-1980s this number had declined to c. 15 pairs. In 1992, only four pairs remained in Amsterdam. Relatively few Crested Larks bred in industrial areas or along railway tracks and today the species is absent from such areas. Over the years, the Crested Lark's distribution pattern in Amsterdam reflected the sequence of suburban building activities. In all districts, the species reached its maximum population size some years after building had started, when patches of wasteland provided suitable breeding sites. All districts built in 1920-70 were large scale projects in which extensive areas of wasteland were available for considerable periods of time. Although building still continues, current construction techniques are unfavourable for the Crested Lark, as building takes place on a small scale and is carried out rapidly. Several reasons have been put forward to explain the decline of the species in The Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, including climatic changes, the disappearance of horses, human disturbance and acid rain. However, none of the seappear to explain the decline of the Crested Lark in Amsterdam, which seems to be largely - if not entirely - due to the completion of suburban expansions and the subsequent loss of habitat. Moreover, current building strategies do not provide new habitat. Therefore, it is not to be expected that the Crested Lark will ever again occur in Amsterdam in numbers comparable to those of 1940-80.

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