Page 404 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

BUNTINGS
Order Passeriformes Family Emberizidae Species Calcarius lapponicus
Lapland Bunting dark stripes patchy head
pattern
each side of
pale crown
rufous
head
rufous wing dark ear covert
panel corners
streaked
back
JUVENILE MALE (WINTER)
rufous panel
between white
bars on wings pale stripe black cap,
face, and
curves breast
whitish down from
underside behind eye
with black
IN FLIGHT streaks bright rusty
nape
short dark tail
with white sides black legs white
belly
JUVENILE

MALE (SUMMER)
FLIGHT: quite direct, shallow undulations; bursts
of fast wingbeats between glides.
n summer, a bird of remote, wild places,
Ithe Lapland Bunting is more familiar as HARD TO SEE
This female Lapland
a winter bird or autumn migrant. It appears Bunting, feeding among
near the coast, on grassy places such as golf long grassy vegetation at
courses, in dunes, and around grassier parts the edge of coastal salt
of salt marshes. It tends to creep marshes, is hard to spot.
inconspicuously until flushed from almost
underfoot, or is noticed flying overhead with its distinctive calls. Its plumage
patterns are superficially like those of a Reed Bunting, although more complex
and richly marked, but its shape and actions recall a Snow Bunting.
VOICE Calls typically hard, quick, staccato rattle and clear whistle, t-r-r-r-r-ik teu or
tikikikiktik teu; song in flight like short bursts of Skylark’s song.
NESTING Nest of moss, lichens, and grass on ground, in hollow in tussock, or
among rocks; 5 or 6 eggs; 1 brood; May–June.
FEEDING Shuffles on ground, finding seeds; feeds on insects in summer.
SIMILAR SPECIES
OCCURRENCE
darker crown RUSTIC BUNTING SNOW BUNTING 32; Breeds in N Scandinavia, in tundra
and cheek see p.452 see p.401 and high plateaux. In winter,
patch
mostly on salt marsh and short,
rusty rump wet grassland close to coasts,
around North Sea and Baltic.
Quite rare inland.
big white
duller REED BUNTING 2 area on Seen in the UK
wingbars similar to 2; wings
see p.395 JF M A M J JA S ON D
Length 14–15cm (5 1 ⁄2 –6in) Wingspan 25–28cm (10–11in) Weight 20–30g ( 11 ⁄16 –1 1 ⁄16oz)
Social Small flocks Lifespan 2–3 years Status Secure†
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