Golden-breasted Bunting
Emberiza flaviventris
A stunningly-colored bunting with a brilliant golden breast, a yellow throat, a boldly black-and-white striped head, a chestnut back, and white wingbars. When flushed, it shows white outer tail feathers. The female is duller. Pairs and small flocks are resident, but make local movements in arid savanna and broadleaf woodland, where they forage on the ground and fly up into trees when flushed or singing. The species has a mellow descending two-note “whit-wheeer” nasal call and a sweet, clearly whistled “tree-chee-tree-chee” song. The similar Brown-rumped and Somali buntings differ from Golden-breasted Bunting by having gray (not chestnut) shoulders and back of the neck.
Identification
The golden-breasted bunting is 15–16 cm long. The adult male has striking head pattern with a white crown, black lateral crown stripes, white supercilium and black-bordered white ear coverts. The underparts are orange-yellow becoming yellow on the throat and whitish on the lower belly. The upperparts are chestnut with a grey rump. The browner wings have two conspicuous white wing bars. The sexes are very similar, but females may have a buff tone to the white head markings and browner head stripes, and the back may have dark streaks. Young birds are duller and paler than the females.<p>There are three subspecies:<p>E. f. princeps is similar to the nominate subspecies, but larger, and paler below. E. f. flavigaster is more distinctive, having a paler, redder back, pale grey rump, paler yellow underparts and whiter flanks.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Emberiza flaviventris
- Authority
- Stephens, 1815
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Emberizidae
- Genus
- Emberiza
Range and habitat
This species is found in a variety of open woodlands. The subspecies flavigaster favours acacia steppe and savannah, with the other subspecies occurring in a wider range of lightly wooded country including gardens.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The golden-breasted bunting's call is a nasal ascending zzhrr. The song is variable, but includes a weechee weechee weechee.<p>The golden-breasted bunting builds an untidy cup nest lined with fine grass or hair low in a shrub or sapling. The two or three eggs are glossy white or cream and marked with black lines. The eggs hatch in 12–13 days and the chicks fledge in another 16–17 days.<p>The golden-breasted bunting is not gregarious, and is normally seen alone, in pairs or small groups. It feeds on the ground on seeds, insects and spiders, animal prey being taken mostly when the birds have young. This species is generally resident, but there appears to be degree of local movement. It is often quite tame.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Northern Hawk Owl
Surnia ulula
Unique medium-sized owl of the boreal forest. Remarkably long-tailed for an owl; reminiscent of a small hawk in flight with quick, snappy wingbeats. Pale eyes give it an angry look. Brownish overall with white spotting above, barred underparts, and spotted crown. Feeds on small rodents by sight and sound. Often seen perched on the very top of a spruce tree or snag, surveying the surrounding landscape for prey. When rodent populations crash, large numbers of Northern Hawk Owls can move south of their normal range.
Rwenzori Apalis
Oreolais ruwenzorii
Slim, pretty, long-tailed member of the cisticola family that sports gray upperparts and buffy underparts with a black chest band. Common in montane forest of the Albertine Rift. Usually in pairs or small groups, readily joining mixed-species flocks. Vocalizations include a ringing “svink” and a lower “veet” which are often given in duet by a pair. Not known to overlap in range with Black-collared Apalis, and differs in having a buffy rather than white throat, and no white in the outer tail.
Black-tailed Trogon
Trogon melanurus
Large trogon with a red belly and stout yellow bill. The female has a gray head and chest, while the male is emerald green with a white band separating the chest from its red belly. Note the plain dark gray undertail. Found in canopy and middle levels of lowland forest, mainly in the Amazon basin of northern South America but also in eastern Panama, northern Colombia, and western Venezuela. The similar Slaty-tailed Trogon has a red bill and males lack the white chest band seen on Black-tailed Trogons. Listen for slow series of low-pitched “coop” calls.
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