Passeriformes / Emberizidae / Emberiza
Chestnut Bunting
Emberiza rutila · 栗鹀
Introduction
A passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae found in the East Palearctic.
Description
Fairly small, 14 to 15 cm in length. Tail is fairly short with little or no white on outer feathers. Breeding males have bright chestnut-brown upperparts and head; breast and belly are yellow with streaks on sides. Non-breeding males are duller with chestnut partly hidden by pale fringes. Female is mostly dull brown with dark streaks above; underparts mainly pale yellow. Rump is dull chestnut and throat is buff.
Identification
Variable, high-pitched song given from a perch low in a tree. Call is a short zick, similar to the call of the little bunting.
Distribution & Habitat
Breeds in Siberia, northern Mongolia and north-eastern China. Long-distance migrant wintering in southern China, south-east Asia and north-east India. Records from Europe are often considered escapes rather than genuine vagrants. Breeding habitat includes open forest with ground cover and shrubs; wintering and migrating birds occur in farmland, scrub and woodland edges.
Behavior & Ecology
Song is given from a perch low in a tree.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Taxonomy
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Emberizidae
- Genus
- Emberiza
Distribution
breeds south-central Russia and north-central Mongolia eastward to southern Sea of Okhotsk and Ussuriland and northeastern China; winters from Nagaland and Mizoram (northeastern India) eastward through southern China and southward to central Indochina
Data Sources
Species description from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Bird images and sounds sourced from GBIF, contributed by citizen scientists worldwide under Creative Commons licenses.
Taxonomy data from AviList 2025.
