The chestnut-eared bunting (''Emberiza fucata''), also called grey-headed bunting or grey-hooded bunting, with the latter name also used for grey-necked bunting, is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the bunting family

Emberizidae The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus ''Emberiza'', the only genus in the family Emberizidae. The family contains 44 species. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills. Taxonomy The family Emberizid ...

. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from

Old German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

''Embritz'', a bunting. The specific ''fucata'' is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "painted" from ''fucare'', "to paint red".

Description

It is 15 to 16 cm in length. The plumage is mostly brown with dark streaks. The male has a grey crown and nape with dark streaks, chestnut ear-coverts and bands of black and chestnut across the breast. There is a

rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish- red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a d ...

patch on the shoulders and the rump is also rufous. Females are similar to the males but duller with a less distinct head and breast pattern. First-winter birds are plainer but show warm brown ear-coverts and have an obvious ring around the eye. Its voice is similar to the

rustic bunting The rustic bunting (''Emberiza rustica'') is a passerine bird in the Emberiza, bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old High German, Old Germ ...

but quieter. The song is a rapid twittering which begins with staccato notes and then accelerates before ending with a distinctive two or three note phrase. The call is an explosive '.

Distribution and habitat

The breeding range extends from the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

locally across China to south-eastern

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, Korea and northern Japan. Northern birds migrate south to winter in southern Japan, southern China, Taiwan, north-eastern India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia. The species is a

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

to Kazakhstan and in October 2004 the first European record occurred at

Fair Isle Fair Isle ( ; ), sometimes Fairisle, is the southernmost Shetland island, situated roughly from the Shetland Mainland and about from North Ronaldsay (the most northerly island of Orkney). The entire archipelago lies off the northernmost coa ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Preferred habitats include scrub, fields and grassland.

Reproduction

The cup-shaped nest is built at ground level or low in a bush. Three to six eggs are laid with four being most common. These are whitish with reddish-brown speckling and are incubated for 12 days. The breeding season is variable, lasting from May to August in India, May to July in

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

and June to August in

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

Subspecies

There are three subspecies. The

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. ...

''E. f. fucata'' occupies the northern part of the range. ''E.f. arcuata'' is found in the Himalayas and south-west and central parts of China; it is darker with broader breastbands. The third subspecies ''E. f. kuatunensis'' lives in south-east China and is darker and more rufous above with narrower breastbands.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1586230 chestnut-eared bunting Birds of China Birds of North India Birds of Japan Birds of Korea Birds of Manchuria Birds of Pakistan Birds of Yunnan chestnut-eared bunting Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas