Bunting

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bunting
Cirl bunting cropped.jpg

Bunting ( Emberiza cirlus )

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily : Passeroidea
Family : Bunting (Emberizidae)
Genre : Ammern ( Emberiza )
Type : Bunting
Scientific name
Emberiza cirlus
Linnaeus , 1766

The fence Bunting ( Emberiza cirlus ) is a passerine bird of the family of Buntings (Emberizidae). The bunting is a resident bird - its range extends over southern Europe and North Africa. In southern Germany there are small stocks in heat-exposed locations. Fencing bugs prefer open, bushy landscapes, their diet consists of smaller seeds and insects .

description

With a length of 16.5 centimeters and a weight of about 25 grams, the bunting is about the size of a house sparrow . The sexual dimorphism is only slightly pronounced.

Overall, the bunting resembles the golden hammer ( Emberiza citrinella ), but has an olive-colored rump . Adult males in their splendid dress have an unmistakable black and yellow head markings, consisting of a black-brown stripe running over the eye, a narrow band that extends from the head to the ear region and a black throat. The back of the male is maroon. The tail is dark, the outermost feathers are white. The underside of the body is maroon on the flanks. In the plain dress , the males are much more dull in color, the black facial markings are then covered by brown feathers.

The females and young birds are more inconspicuously colored and resemble - except for the olive-green rump - the female golden hammer. The upper and lower body of the females is finely striped. The young birds are a little paler and more yellowish brown than the females. Nestlings have dense, long and dark gray downs on the head, upper body and abdomen. The throat and tongue of newly hatched nestlings are initially pink and change color to carmine with increasing age. The tongue papillae are conspicuously whitish pink, the tongue edges and the tongue tip are yellow. The beak ridges are pale yellow.

The fence hammer has a more wavy flight than the golden hammer.

Habitat and endangerment

The distribution area of ​​the bunting extends from south-western Europe (especially Spain, France, Italy to Greece, Austria, Switzerland, southern Germany, southern England) to northern Africa (northern Morocco to Tunisia) and Asia Minor. It is a resident bird in the south of its range. In the Alps it is a partial and short-distance migrant that is absent in the actual winter months. The bunting mainly lives in bush-rich habitats with individual tall trees, but can also be found in sunny cultivated land and in vineyards. She prefers sun-exposed slopes. Internationally, the species is classified as not endangered.

There is also an occurrence in New Zealand, here it was introduced by humans.

In the Red List of Germany's breeding birds, this species of bunting is classified as “endangered” (category 3). The main reason for the decline in the species is the change in habitat. Due to the lack of management of marginal yield sites, for example through grazing with sheep and goats, suitable habitats are overgrown and no longer provide a habitat for this species. Rainy and cold winters also lead to temporary populations.

Vocalizations

The fence hammer calls out “pull” or “tzii”, or even harder “tick” or “tsittit”. Unlike some other songbird species, this species of bunting has no prelude. The calls are higher and thinner than with the golden hammer. The singing consists of a monotonous sound stanza that is reminiscent of the rattling warbler and mountain warbler .

The bunting sings until late in summer and can sometimes also be heard in autumn. Singing males usually sit high up in a tree, clearly visible. While singing, they raise their heads so that the black throat mark and chest markings are clearly visible.

Way of life

Bunting
Bunting eggs

Outside of the breeding season, some breeding pairs stay in their breeding area, but most of the fence bunting form small groups. Fence wounds mostly look for food on the ground; this consists of seeds and, during the breeding season, also of invertebrates (grasshoppers, earwigs, beetles and caterpillars as well as spiders, worms and snails). The young birds are mainly fed with insects.

The breeding season begins in Central Europe from mid-May, in north-west Africa fence bugs breed from the beginning of April to June. They raise two to three annual broods. The second brood will begin about seven days after the first brood has fledged. Bunting bugs are monogamous birds and the couple relationship may last over several breeding seasons.

The nest built by the female alone is mostly close to the ground, in blackberries and other bushes as well as in very low trees, under thick vegetation. The nest is a bowl, which mostly consists of stalks and roots and is covered with hair and fine grass. The clutch usually consists of three to four, rarely two to six eggs. The eggs are spindle-shaped with a smooth, slightly shiny shell. The skin color is white with a bluish, greenish or pale pink basic color and black, purple and pale gray speckles, spots and squiggles. Only the female parent bird breeds and is supplied with food by the male. The breeding season is 11 to 14 days. The nestlings are fed by both parent birds, but only the female hoards the nestlings during their first week of life. The nestlings leave the nest after 10 to 14 days, from the 15th day of life they are fully capable of flight, but are still supplied with food by the parent birds until around the 28th day of life.

Fencing hammer (like other bunting birds) sometimes give up their clutch if they are disturbed at the nest.

literature

Web links

Commons : Zaunammer ( Emberiza cirlus )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Fry et al., P. 590
  2. ^ Harrison, p. 442
  3. ↑ Fry et al., S: 589
  4. ↑ Christoph Grüneberg, Hans-Günther Bauer, Heiko Haupt, Ommo Hüppop, Torsten Ryslavy & Peter Südbeck: Red List of Germany's Breeding Birds , 5th version, November 30, 2015 . In: Reports on bird protection . tape 52 , 2015, p. 19-67 .
  5. ↑ Bezzel, p. 522
  6. ↑ Bezzel, p. 522
  7. ↑ Fry et al., P. 591
  8. ↑ Fry et al., P. 590
  9. ^ Harrison, p. 442