Thai National Parks

Species of Thailand

Little bunting

Emberiza pusilla

Peter Simon Pallas, 1776

In Thai: นกจาบปีกอ่อนเล็ก

The little bunting (Emberiza pusilla) is a passerine bird belonging to the bunting family (Emberizidae).

Taxonomy

First described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1776, the little bunting is a monotypic species, with no geographical variation across its extensive Palearctic range.

The genus name Emberiza is from Old German Embritz, a bunting. The specific pusilla is Latin for "very small".

Description

This is a small bunting, measuring only 12 - 14 cm in length. It has a heavily streaked brown back and white underparts with fine dark streaking. With its chestnut face and white malar stripe, it resembles a small female reed bunting, but has black crown stripes, a white eye-ring, and a fine dark border to the rear of its chestnut cheeks. The sexes are similar.

The call is a distinctive zik, and the song is a rolling siroo-sir-sir-siroo.

Ecology

The little bunting breeds across the taiga of the far north-east of Europe and northern Eurosiberia to the Russian Far East. It is migratory, wintering in the subtropics in northern India, southern China and the northern parts of south-east Asia. The birds remain in their winter quarters for quite long; specimens were taken in Yunnan in late March. It is a rare vagrant to western Europe. This species is adaptable; in the mountains of Bhutan for example, where small numbers winter, it is typically found in an agricultural habitat, mostly between 1000 and 2000 m ASL.

It breeds in open coniferous woodland, often with some birch or willow. Four to six eggs are laid in a tree nest. Its natural food consists of seeds, or when feeding young, insects.

A common and widely-ranging species, it is not considered threatened on the IUCN Red List.

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Category / Seasonal Status

Wiki listed status (concerning Thai population): Winter visitor

BCST Category: Recorded in an apparently wild state within the last 50 years

BCST Seasonal status: Non-breeding visitor

Scientific classification

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Emberizidae
Genus
Emberiza
Species
Emberiza pusilla

Common names

  • Thai: นกจาบปีกอ่อนเล็ก

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN3.1)

Least Concern (IUCN3.1)

Near Threatened (IUCN3.1)

Near Threatened (ONEP)

Near Threatened (IUCN3.1)

Near Threatened (BCST)

Photos

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Little bunting
Little bunting (emberiza pusilla)

Range Map

Distribution map of Little bunting, Emberiza pusilla in Thailand
  • Chiang Dao Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Chiang Saen District, Chiang Rai
  • Doi Inthanon National Park
  • Doi Lang
  • Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park
  • Doi Phu Kha National Park
  • Doi Suthep - Pui National Park
  • Khao Yai National Park
  • Mae Ai District, Chiang Mai
  • Phu Chi Fa Forest Park
Range map of Emberiza pusilla in Thailand