Dwarf bunting
| Dwarf bunting | ||||||||||||
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Dwarf bunting ( Emberiza pusilla ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Emberiza pusilla | ||||||||||||
| Pallas , 1776 |
The bunting ( Emberiza pusilla ) is a species of bird from the family of the bunting (Emberizidae). The Little Bunting is like the Waldammer , the yellow-breasted bunting and the snow bunting , a bird of the northern regions of the tundra breeds.
description
Outside the mating season, the bunting is rather inconspicuous in color. The main features to distinguish them from other species (such as the similar looking wood bunting or reed bunting ) are their small size and reddish brown cheeks. In the mating season, the colors in the male are clearly visible. Now the parting and cheeks are maroon with a strong black border.
The top is striped brown and black, the white bottom is provided with fine, black stripes. The female is much more dull than the male. In flight, the bunting looks rather squat.
With a length of 13.5 cm and a weight of 15 g, it is one of the smaller species in the family.
habitat
The bunting is a migratory bird . It breeds in the tundra of North Asia and Northeast Europe , where it breeds mainly in northern Finland . But it has also bred in Northern Norway and Sweden . Locations close to the water are preferred - they can often be found in the willow bushes in river valleys and swamps.
She spends the winter in the subtropics of northern India , southern China and the northern parts of Southeast Asia . Occasionally, individual birds also get lost in Western Europe . In Germany they are mostly seen on Heligoland .
Song and food
The bunting feeds mainly on seeds, the young birds are also often fed on insects.
The calls are short, like “phuick” or “tschick”. The chant, a "zwi zwi zwi zwiehdi-di" sung with changing pitches, is like a bunting and is reminiscent of that of the goldhammer and the ortolan .
Brood
The nest is built on the ground or near the ground in willow bushes or in small birches . The bird uses stalks, moss and lichen for construction ; for padding, the inside is covered with fine grass and hair. The eggs, 4–5 in number, are light gray to greenish and about 19 mm long. They are incubated for 11–12 days. There is one brood per year, sometimes two.
Web links
- Emberiza pusilla in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on January 1 of 2009.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings for Emberiza pusilla in the Internet Bird Collection
- Feathers of the dwarf bammer