Ortolan Bunting
Emberiza hortulana
Fairly small bunting. Males are striking with a green-gray head and yellow mustache, eyering, and throat contrasting with a chestnut belly and intricately marked upperparts. Rump is earth brown and streaked. Females and juveniles are similar but spotted below, head pattern duller, and body less chestnut. Breeds mainly in open and semiopen agricultural areas, slopes, and in mountains with scattered bushes and trees. Non-breeding habitat similar, but includes sparse, highland grasslands and fields. Song is a buzzy “dweedwee-dzeedzeedzzeedzee-dee”, while calls include a mellow, tinkling “deu” and a higher-pitched “deek.”
Identification
The ortolan bunting is 16–17 cm (6.3–6.7 in) in length and has a wing-span of 23–29 cm (9.1–11.4 in). In appearance and habits it much resembles its relative the yellowhammer, but lacks the bright colouring of that species; the ortolan's head, for instance, is greenish-grey, instead of a bright yellow. The song of the male ortolan resembles that of the yellowhammer.
Taxonomy
The ortolan bunting was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae and retains its original binomial name of Emberiza hortulana. The species is monotypic. A molecular phylogenetic study of the buntings published in 2008 found that the ortolan bunting is most closely related to Cretzschmar's bunting (Emberiza caesia).
- Scientific name
- Emberiza hortulana
- Authority
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Emberizidae
- Genus
- Emberiza
Range and habitat
A native of most European countries and western Asia, it reaches as far north as Scandinavia and beyond the Arctic Circle, frequenting cornfields and their neighbourhoods. It is an uncommon vagrant in spring, and particularly autumn, to the British Isles. Sightings in the UK are less common than they were, owing to the species’ population decline due to overexploitation in France.<p>It was spotted at Kenjar Coastal Karnataka, India, in November 2018 and photographed by birdwatchers. Some birders commented that it is the first photographic record of an ortolan bunting in India.
- Breeding range
- PAL : s, e subarctic to subtropical open wooded hills: w, c Palearctic: Scandinavia patchily to Iberian Pen., e through Baltic region, w, sc Russia, n Kazakhstan, far n Xinjiang (nw China) and w, c, s Mongolia; in s through coastal Algeria, n Mediterranean to Turkey, Caucasus and n Iran
- Non-breeding range
- to Sahel, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and coastal s Arabian Pen., in upland semiarid habitats
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Ortolan nests are placed on or near the ground.<p>The maximum age recorded is six years and ten months for a bird found dead in Switzerland.<p>Seeds are the natural diet, but beetles and other insects are taken when feeding their young.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Zonotrichia leucophrys
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Golden Whistler
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Pale-tailed Barbthroat
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