Page 401 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

BUNTINGS
Order Passeriformes Family Emberizidae Species Emberiza cirlus
Cirl Bunting
bright yellow above
and below eye
streaked, dark greenish
cap (with stronger
olive-buff stripes in winter)
rump
black
black eye-stripe MALE (WINTER)
chin
MALE strongly
(SUMMER) striped
head
rusty patch
on side of
breast
pale yellow
olive- underside
brown
rump
fine streaks
on underside
FEMALE black tail with
white sides
FEMALE
MALE
IN FLIGHT (SUMMER)
ith a song that recalls both Yellowhammer and Bonelli’s FLIGHT: flitting, undulating with bursts of
WWarbler (see p.335), the Cirl Bunting is a common bird of relatively weak wingbeats; straighter over long
open, bushy slopes and well-treed farmland with hedges and distance with longer, shallow undulations.
thickets. It needs old, unimproved grassland, especially
with a great many grasshoppers, so is suffering in the
face of agricultural intensification. Males sing from
bush tops but also from inconspicuous perches part
way up trees, quite difficult to spot and likely to sit
quite still for minutes on end.
VOICE Call very simple, short, high, thin sip; song
fast, rattling trill on one note, or slower, lighter, more
bubbling variant, t-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r or ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-
ti-ti-ti.
NESTING Rough nest of grass and stalks, low in
shrub or hedge; 3 or 4 eggs; 2 broods;April–July. FEMALE BIRD
FEEDING Needs to eat grasshoppers and similar The female Cirl Bunting has a strongly striped pale yellow and blackish
insects in summer; otherwise takes seeds from ground. head. The wings have rusty patches and the breast is pale yellowish.
SIMILAR SPECIES OCCURRENCE
Breeds in extreme SW England,
YELLOWHAMMER 32; REED BUNTING 2 bolder head France, Spain, Portugal, and east
rusty rump; similar to 32; pattern
see p.154 see p.395 to Balkans. Found all year on warm,
bushy, often stony slopes, around
more
pale rufous tall, leafy orchard edges, and in
chin olive groves. In winter, in weedy
or grassy fields and gardens.
Seen in the UK
J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 15–16cm (6–6 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 22–26cm (9–10in) Weight 21–27g ( 3 ⁄4 – 15 ⁄16oz)
Social Small flocks Lifespan 2–3 years Status Secure
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