Page 397 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

BUNTINGS
Order Passeriformes Family Emberizidae Species Emberiza schoeniclus
Reed Bunting obscured
head pattern

black and white
neck and head
rufous
forewings white
stripe
under
cheeks
buff-brown
MALE back with
wide (SUMMER) black streaks
white MALE
tail sides (WINTER)
streaked whitish
underside cream stripe
over eye
IN FLIGHT
hint of pale
collar
MALE
(SUMMER)
cream and
pale red- black streaks
ne of the more brown legs on back
Ocommon buntings,
especially in any damp
or wet landscape, the bold black
tail with wide
Reed Bunting is easy white sides
to find and identify in FEMALE
summer. Males sing monotonously from low perches long,
in the wetland vegetation. In winter, when males are far less striking, notched tail
Reed Buntings are not so easily identified and also spread widely
over all kinds of open ground and in thickets of willow, young
conifers, and farmland hedgerows.They visit gardens at times.
VOICE Typical call quite full, loud, high tseeu or psiu, high, thin, FLIGHT: slightly erratic, bounding, with flicking tail;
pure sweee; zi zi; song short, stereotyped, dives into cover with flourish.
simple, jangly phrase, two or three groups of
notes clearly separated,srip srip srip sea-sea-sea
stitip-itip-itipip.
NESTING Bulky nest of grass, sedge, and
other stems, lined with roots and hair, on or
close to ground in thick cover; 4 or 5 eggs;
2 broods;April–June.
FEEDING Mostly feeds on insects in WINTER DRABNESS
summer, seeds at other times, taken low in Brown feather tips in winter obscure the male’s
bushes or on ground, often on open grass head pattern. However, in spring, they wear
near water. away to reveal the full colours. OCCURRENCE
Breeds in C and N Europe except
SIMILAR SPECIES for Iceland; seen in winter only in
S Europe. Inhabits wet places with
white LAPLAND BUNTING 2 HOUSE SPARROW 2 reeds, sedge, rushes, willow
wingbars winter, similar to 32; similar to 32;
see p.402 see p.375 thickets, and fringes of lakes and
rivers; also drier heathy slopes and
dumpier
duller heathland bogs. Sometimes visits
rusty wing gardens in winter, especially in
panel
hard weather.
CHAFFINCH 2 short black short tail Seen in the UK
similar to 2; see p.380 legs with no white J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 15cm (6in) Wingspan 21–26cm (8 1 ⁄2 –10in) Weight 15–22g ( 9 ⁄16 – 13 ⁄16oz)
Social Small flocks Lifespan 2–3 years Status Secure
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