Little bunting

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Little bunting
Zwergammer.jpg
On the island of Heligoland in the North Sea
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Emberizidae
Genus: Emberiza
Species:
E. pusilla
Binomial name
Emberiza pusilla
Pallas, 1776
EmberizaPusillaIUCN.svg
Range of E. pusilla
  Breeding
  Non-breeding

The little bunting (Emberiza pusilla) is a passerine bird belonging to the bunting family (Emberizidae).

Contents

Taxonomy

First described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1776, the little bunting is a monotypic species, [2] with no geographical variation across its extensive Palearctic range. [3]

The genus name Emberiza is from Old German Embritz, a bunting. The specific pusilla is Latin for "very small". [4]

Description

This is a small bunting, measuring only 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in) in length. [2] 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.

The call is a distinctive zik, and the song is a rolling siroo-sir-sir-siroo.

Ecology

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. [3] The birds remain in their winter quarters for quite long; specimens were taken in Yunnan in late March. [5] It is a rare vagrant to western Europe. [3] 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. [6]

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.

Little Bunting. Little Bunting.jpg
Little Bunting.

A common and widely-ranging species, it is not considered threatened on the IUCN Red List. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2017). "Emberiza pusilla". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T22720954A111137474. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22720954A111137474.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Byers, Olsson & Curson (1995), p. 154.
  3. 1 2 3 Byers, Olsson & Curson (1995), p. 156.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. pp.  145, 325. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Bangs, Outram (1932). "Birds of western China obtained by the Kelley-Roosevelts expedition". Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser. 18 (11): 343–379.
  6. Inskipp, Carol; Inskipp, Tim; Sherub (2000). "The ornithological importance of Thrumshingla National Park, Bhutan" (PDF). Forktail . 16: 147–162. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2014-08-03.

Cited works