Common reed bunting

Common reed bunting
File:Common reed bunting (emberiza schoeniclus) m.jpg
Male
File:Common reed bunting (emberiza schoeniclus) f.jpg
Female – Both at Otmoor, Oxfordshire File:Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) (W1CDR0001379 BD4).ogg Male bird recorded in Norfolk, England
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Emberizidae
Genus:	Emberiza
Species:	E. schoeniclus
Binomial name
Emberiza schoeniclus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The common reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. It breeds across Europe and much of temperate and northern Asia. Most birds migrate south in winter, but those in the milder south and west of the range are resident. It is common in reedbeds and also breeds in drier open areas such as moorland and cultivation. For example it is a component of the purple moor grass and rush pastures, a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. It is found in the South West of England, especially in Devon.

The familiar, if somewhat monotonous, song of the cock is a repetitive zrip.

Description

The common reed bunting is a medium-sized bird, 13.5–15.5 cm long, with a small but sturdy seed-eater's bill. The male has a black head and throat, white neck collar and underparts, and a heavily streaked brown back. The female is much duller, with a streaked brown head, and is more streaked below.

Food and feeding

Its natural food consists of insects when feeding young, and otherwise seeds. The nest is in a bush or reed tussock. 4–7 eggs are laid, which show the hair-like markings characteristic of those of buntings.

Gallery

• 

  A male in winter in England

• EmberizaSchoeniclusNaturalHabitat.jpg

  In natural shore habitat

• Reed Bunting.jpg

  Female

• Reed Bunting from the Crossley ID Guide Britain and Ireland.jpg

  ID composite

• Emberiza schoeniclus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.218. Bréhal.jpg

  Eggs MHNT

• Emberiza schoeniclus.ogg

  Chirp

• Leucistic Reed Bunting 1.jpg

  Leucistic reed bunting

External links

• Emberiza schoeniclus : songs, sonagrams
• ARKive Stills, Video
• Ageing and sexing (PDF; 3.7 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta and Gerd-Michael Heinze
• Feathers of common reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)