Galerida cristata

Cotovia-de-poupa:



Canon 1DMk3, 100-400 + 1.4TC
1/1600s f/8.0 at 560 mm

A Beautiful photo with excellent background

1 Abraço,
Pedro

Excellent!

Great picture

Thank you Pedo, Gonçalo and Helder.

Gonçalo, we had a discussion a while ago in another thread about distinguishing G. cristata from G. theklae. Collins Bird Guide states that the bottom edge of the lower mandible of cristata is straight. If you put a straight edge (piece of paper) against my photo from the tip to the base of the bill you will see that it is slightly concave - this is much more obvious in other birds I have photographed, and is very obvious in the illustrations in Collins. In theklae the bottom edge of the lower mandible is always slightly convex (and the overall bill length is shorter).

In my experience this is the most reliable way of distinguishing between these two species, irrespective of overall plumage coloration, breast streaking and crest size. Unfortunately, this criterion is easier to apply to a photograph than to a bird in the field!!

Abraço,

Colin