PELLINKHOF JH & KLERK DE REUS HW (2002) First breeding report of Firecrest Regulus ignicapillus in The Netherlands. LIMOSA 75 (3): 81-84.

Originally published in Orgaan der Club van Nederlandsche Vogelkundigen 1 (1928): 8-12

Observations of Firecrest in The Netherlands were for a long time troubled by insufficient knowledge of calls and song. Although the species was breeding across the border in Belgium and Germany, it was as late as 1928 that first breeding was confirmed. The contribution from Pellinkhof and Klerk de Reus, a reprint from their original paper from 1928, describes the first breeding cases in detail. The two nests involved, were found in an area near Breda, province Noord-Brabant. As also pointed out by Hustings in the following paper, this was rather surprising since the species was expected to breed in Zuid-Limburg, close to the breeding areas across the border. Since many ornithologists by that time were not aware of the differences between Goldcrest R. regulus and Firecrest, the species was probably overlooked in several parts of the southern Netherlands. The two nests near Breda from 1928 both failed due to predation.

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