Chestnut-eared Bunting
Emberiza fucata
Burly brown bunting; gets more attractive as you look at it more closely. Brown overall, but intricately patterned in various shades of gray, brown, and black. Combination of a grayish head, extensive dark streaking on the upperparts, and a large brown patch behind the ear (only chestnut in adult males) is unique in the region. Typically inhabits reed beds, grassy fields, and scrubby farmland where it often appears in scattered flocks. Song, usually given from an elevated, exposed perch, is a jumble of twittering, clattering notes. Calls include high, thin “tsik” and lower “chuck.”
Identification
It is 15 to 16 cm in length. The plumage is mostly brown with dark streaks. The male has a grey crown and nape with dark streaks, chestnut ear-coverts and bands of black and chestnut across the breast. There is a rufous patch on the shoulders and the rump is also rufous. Females are similar to the males but duller with a less distinct head and breast pattern. First-winter birds are plainer but show warm brown ear-coverts and have an obvious ring around the eye.<p>Its voice is similar to the rustic bunting but quieter. The song is a rapid twittering which begins with staccato notes and then accelerates before ending with a distinctive two or three note phrase. The call is an explosive pzick.
Taxonomy
Genus: Emberiza; Family: Emberizidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Emberiza fucata
- Authority
- Pallas, 1776
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Emberizidae
- Genus
- Emberiza
Range and habitat
The breeding range extends from the Himalayas locally across China to south-eastern Siberia, Korea and northern Japan. Northern birds migrate south to winter in southern Japan, southern China, Taiwan, north-eastern India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia. The species is a vagrant to Kazakhstan and in October 2004 the first European record occurred at Fair Isle in Scotland. Preferred habitats include scrub, fields and grassland.
- Breeding range
- PAL : disjunctly in subtropical w Himalayas, c China and n temperate ne Asia, in scrubby hills: montane nw Pakistan through Himalayas to c Nepal; Sichuan and s Shaanxi s to se Tibet, Yunnan and Guizhou; nc, ne Mongolia, s Transbaikalia to Sakhalin (se Russia), Nei Mongol and Heilongjiang (ne China) s to Korean Pen., s Kuril Is. to Kyushu (n to s Japan); and Zhejiang and Fujian (ec China)
- Non-breeding range
- s temperate to subtropical e Asian marshes and fields: from lower in Himalayas to e India and Bangladesh, se Asia (except Malay Pen.), c, e China, Korean Pen. and Honshu s to Izu and Ryukyu is. (c to s, se Japan)
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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A very small gregarious species of open habitats including agricultural areas and the edges of marshes; often found in flocks of tens to hundreds. Note the black face and crown, brown wings, and long reddish orange uppertail coverts (concealing black tail) of breeding male. Nonbreeding males and females distinguished from similar Black-winged Bishop by smaller size and bill and told from Yellow-crowned Bishop by buffier coloration and more limited streaking on chest. Song is a rapid jumble of squeaky, twittering, and churring notes. Its calls include a sharp “tsit” and “tzit.”
Green Shrike-Babbler
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A small and unobtrusive inhabitant of montane forests. Round-headed and short-billed. Variable across its expansive range, but male tends to be slightly more colorful than the female, which has a lighter gray head and tinges of greenish-yellow on the back and flanks. A white eyering of varying thickness is present in some subspecies. Overall, however, a gray head, pale belly, and olive green upperparts are found regardless of region or sex.
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Australian crows and ravens are challenging to identify; concentrate on call, throat-hackles, behavior, and location. Calls usually a very fairly short, repeated “ah-ah-ah.” Note relatively short bill, white bases to the small throat hackles. Similar Torresian Crow larger and more likely to be found in very large flocks in dry inland parts of Australia. Inhabits arid inland areas of Australia and is not the default crow/raven in any of the major cities.
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