Reed Bunting
Emberiza schoeniclus
Chunky bunting, found in wetlands with reed beds and scattered bushes; also in farmland and other open areas with bushes and hedges. In the spring and summer, male gives his halting song from a prominent perch, showing off distinctive black-and-white head pattern (pattern muted in winter). Female streaky overall, much like other buntings, with boldly striped head. Compare with very similar Pallas’s Bunting, note rusty shoulders, thicker and more conical bill, dark brownish rump. White outer tail feathers often show in flight. Calls include a quiet, mellow “tsew” and buzzy notes.
Identification
The common reed bunting is a medium-sized bird, 13.5–15.5 cm (5.3–6.1 in) long, with a small but sturdy seed-eater's bill. The male has a black head and throat, white neck collar and underparts, and a heavily streaked brown back. The female is much duller, with a streaked brown head, and is more streaked below.The song of the male is a repetitive srip.
Taxonomy
The common reed bunting was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla schoeniclus. This bunting is now placed in the genus Emberiza that Linnaeus had introduced in the same edition of his Systema Naturae. The specific epithet schoeniclus is from the Ancient Greek skhoiniklos, a word that was used by Greek authors for an unidentified bird. Linnaeus specified the type locality as Europe but this is now restricted to Sweden. Nineteen subspecies are recognised.<p>The bird family Emberizidae contains around 300 seed-eating species, the majority of which are found in the Americas, although the genus Emberiza, with more than 40 members, is confined to the Old World. Within its genus, the reed bunting is most closely related to the Japanese reed bunting and the Pallas's reed bunting, which are sometimes classified as being in the genus Schoeniclus.<p>Nineteen subspecies are recognised, including- E. s. schoeniclus, the nominate subspecies, which occurs in most of Europe, E. s. witherbyi which is found in south Portugal, western Spain, France and Sardinia, E. s. intermedia from Italy and the Adriatic coast to northwest Albania, E. s. reiseri from southeast Albania, northwest Greece, south North Macedonia and west and central Turkey, E. s. caspia from east Turkey and northwest Iran, E. s. korejewi from southwest and eastern Iran and south Turkmenistan, E. s. pyrrhuloides from north Caspian sea region to western Mongolia, southeast Kazakhstan and central Tien Shan, E. s. passerina from northwest Siberia, wintering in south Asia, E. s. parvirostris from central Siberia wintering in northern China, E. s. pyrrhulina from Kamchatka and northern Japan, wintering in central Japan, Korea and eastern China, E. s. pallidior from southwestern Siberia wintering in southwest Asia, E. s. minor from Russian Far East and northeast China, wintering in east China, E. s. ukrainae from Ukraine and adjacent areas of Russia, E. s. incognita from southeastern European Russia to north Kazakhstan and E. s. zaidamensis, endemic to northwest Qinghai, China.
- Scientific name
- Emberiza schoeniclus
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Emberizidae
- Genus
- Emberiza
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : subarctic to temperate Palearctic marshes: British Is., Scandinavia and nw Russia through Sea of Okhotsk, Kamchatka, Kuril Is. and Sakhalin (e Russia); in s through Iberian Pen. and nw Morocco, e through Mediterranean, Turkey, Caucasus, n, sc Iran, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan to n Xinjiang (nw China), w Mongolia, ne China and Hokkaido and n Honshu (n Japan)
- Non-breeding range
- short-range southward movements into wider habitat range
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Its natural food consists of insects when feeding young, and otherwise seeds.<p>Breeding normally starts in early April, finishing in late August depending on location and altitude. The species is monogamous[citation needed]. The nest is built using twigs, grass and reeds lined with finer materials such as hair, moss and rootlets in a bush or reed tussock. 4–5 olive-grey eggs are laid, which show the hair-like markings characteristic of those of buntings. The incubation period is 12–15 days where the chicks are fed by both parents.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Yellow-breasted Forest Robin
Stiphrornis mabirae
A short-tailed understory robin with a bright yellow-orange throat. Also shows a dark-green back, buff belly, and a white spot in front of the eye. Most often encountered by its song: a duet, in which the male gives high-pitched whistles and the female makes an accompanying chatter. Similar to Orange-breasted Forest Robin (potentially very limited overlap in range), but underparts more extensively yellowish-orange. Otherwise most likely to be confused with Lowland Akalat, but can always be distinguished by the white spot in front of the eye, as well as the dark-green rather than rufous-brown back, and the buff rather than white belly.
Rufous-webbed Brilliant
Heliodoxa branickii
Large, green hummingbird of montane forest. Males have a small red throat patch; females are duller green with a white-speckled belly. Both sexes have reddish-brown coloration on the inner webbing of wing feathers, giving the wings a brownish appearance in flight. Locally distributed, and often quite rare; it seems to be most common on some outlying ridges on the eastern side of the Andes.
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