Page 396 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

BUNTINGS
Family Emberizidae
BUNTINGS

BUNTING LOOKS MUCH like a finch: in
A general, buntings are a little slimmer and
longer-tailed, and the structure of the bill is more
constant, with a small upper mandible fitting
neatly into a deeper, broader lower one that has
a curiously curved cutting edge.
Most buntings have dark tails with white sides,
but some, such as the Corn Bunting, have plainer
tails.They show a variety of head patterns. Males
are much like females in winter, with these
patterns obscured by dull feather edges, but the
PRE-ROOST GATHERING
dull colours crumble away in spring to reveal Corn Buntings get together before flying to a roost in a thicket or reed-
striking breeding plumage colours. bed. Their flight calls often give them away.
Females and juveniles, lacking these patterns,
are more difficult to identify and some require Buntings, but a hard, sharp “tik” call concentrates
care. Habitat, location, and time of year may be attention, as the Reed Bunting does not have
useful. Calls also help: several much any corresponding call note. Songs are mostly
rarer species visit western brief, not especially musical, and repetitive,
Europe in the autumn and although some, such as the Yellowhammer’s
look rather like Reed all-summer-long song phrase, have a
particularly pleasing and evocative character.
Most buntings are seed-eaters outside the
breeding season and have suffered declines in
areas where intensive modern farming has
reduced the opportunities for birds to find
weed seeds in winter.The Cirl Bunting has
also declined with a lack of grasshoppers,
which it feeds to its young in summer.

DRINKING POOL
Corn Buntings and other species often have a
favourite pool where they drink.

SPRING PERFECTION
This male Reed Bunting is at his
best, having lost the dull feather
fringes of winter. His plumage
gradually turns paler in summer.

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