Little Bunting
Emberiza pusilla
Small bunting with an attractive contrasting head pattern: black crown with red-brown central stripe and pale eyering. Rufous cheeks bordered by narrow black lines framing the eyes. In the nonbreeding season, less bright overall but white wingbars more conspicuous. Breeds in taiga forests and open tundra with scattered birches and willows, often near water; song is a pleasant two- or three-part series of bright, buzzy warbled notes. Winters in various open habitats, including fields, brushy roadside ditches, and gardens. Often attracts attention by its sharp clicking "zick" call note.
Identification
This is a small bunting, measuring only 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in) in length. It has white underparts with dark streaking on the breast and sides. With its chestnut face and white malar stripe, it resembles a small female reed bunting, but has black crown stripes, a white eye-ring, and a fine dark border to the rear of its chestnut cheeks. The sexes are similar.<p>The call is a distinctive zik, and the song is a rolling siroo-sir-sir-siroo.
Taxonomy
First described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1776, the little bunting is a monotypic species, with no geographical variation across its extensive Palearctic range.<p>The genus name Emberiza is from Old German Embritz, a bunting. The specific pusilla is Latin for "very small".
- Scientific name
- Emberiza pusilla
- Authority
- Pallas, 1776
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Emberizidae
- Genus
- Emberiza
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : low Arctic to n temperate Palearctic in shrubby tundra to taiga: far n Scandinavia through Russia to Chukotka; in s to far nc Mongolia (probably) and disjunctly in ne China
- Non-breeding range
- subtropical e Asian edges and open areas: to nc, ne India, n Bangladesh, n se Asia, s, e China, Korean Pen., Ryukyu Is. (=Nansei Shoto, s Japan) and Taiwan
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The little bunting breeds across the taiga of the far north-east of Europe and northern Eurosiberia to the Russian Far East. It is migratory, wintering in the subtropics in northern India, southern China and the northern parts of south-east Asia. The birds remain in their winter quarters for quite long; specimens were taken in Yunnan in late March. It is a rare vagrant to western Europe. This species is adaptable; in the mountains of Bhutan for example, where small numbers winter, it is typically found in an agricultural habitat, mostly between 1,000 and 2,000 metres (3,300 and 6,600 ft) ASL.<p>It breeds in open coniferous woodland, often with some birch or willow. Four to six eggs are laid in a tree nest. Its natural food consists of seeds, or when feeding young, insects.<p>A common and widely-ranging species, it is not considered threatened on the IUCN Red List.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Maroon Oriole
Oriolus traillii
Large, pale-eyed songbird of lower and middle elevations of montane forests. Male blood red with inky black head and wings and dark bill; female similar but less richly colored. Juvenile brown above, pale with dark stippling below, paler bill, and tawny undertail coverts. Birds in Taiwan and central Vietnam are much brighter red overall. Usually seen in pairs or small flocks, sometimes with mixed-species flocks. Pairs often engage in an ethereal duet: male gives a series of melodic notes, to which the female responds with a long, airy whistle. Also gives harsh, rasping calls.
Yellow-bellied Hyliota
Hyliota flavigaster
Mid-sized, generic-looking warbler-like bird. Males have a glossy blue-black back, a white wing patch, and pale yellowish underparts. Females are similar, but more gray-brown on the back. Found in savanna with broadleaf trees, including miombo and Guinea savanna. Usually in pairs or small groups, which will join mixed-species feeding flocks. The quiet vocalizations include chatty calls and trills. Very similar to Southern Hyliota. In most of the range, Yellow-bellied males distinguished by the longer white patch on the wing, and females by their grayer upperparts. In Uganda and Kenya, males are extremely similar, but Yellow-bellied can still be recognized by its more glossy blue-black back.
Black Thicket-Fantail
Rhipidura maculipectus
A medium-sized, long-tailed bird of lowland swamp forest and mangroves. Blackish plumage with short white eye-brow, white patch on the side of the throat and prominent white tail tips. Also white-spotted chest and wing bars. Very secretive and difficult to see. Stays low to the ground with tail often cocked and fanned. Similar to White-bellied Thicket-Fantail, but Black lacks the white belly. Also similar to Sooty Thick-Fantail but Black has the white tail tips. Voice, a rising, tinkling, metallic song followed by “wi-chew!”.
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