Meadow Bunting (Emberiza cioides) | Photos, Calls and ID

LCLeast ConcernSeeds

GrasslandCup nestSmall · 21 g

What the Meadow Bunting sounds like

Sonogram of the Meadow Bunting: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.

Recorded by Jochem Verweij · Call · Khurkh Bird Ringing Station, Биндэр, Хэнтий, Mongolia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The meadow bunting is 15 to 16.5 cm long. The male is mostly rufous-brown with dark streaks on the back. The boldly-patterned head is brown with white eyebrows, moustachial stripe and throat and grey sides to the neck. The outer tail-feathers are white and the legs are pinkish-brown. Females are similar but are duller and paler with a less well-defined head pattern. The song is a short, hurried phrase given from a prominent perch. The call is a series of up to four sharp notes. It breeds in southern Siberia, northern and eastern China, eastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Korea and Japan.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Meadow Bunting

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 10 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Meadow Bunting

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 8 countries with regular records, and 3 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Japan South Korea China Mongolia Russia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan North Korea

Recorded as a rare visitor in Taiwan, United Kingdom, Sweden.

About the Meadow Bunting

The meadow bunting or Siberian meadow bunting is a passerine bird of eastern Asia which belongs to the genus Emberiza in the bunting family Emberizidae.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Lark-like BuntingEmberiza impetuaniThe lark-like bunting is a species of bird in the family Emberizidae, which is native to south-western Africa.

Black-headed BuntingEmberiza melanocephalaThis bird is 15 cm (5.9 in) long, larger than a reed bunting, and with a long-tail.

Yellow-throated BuntingEmberiza elegansThe yellow-throated bunting, also known as the elegant bunting, is a species of bird in the family Emberizidae.

Side by side: Black-headed Bunting vs Meadow Bunting

Learn the Meadow Bunting in the BeakBrain App

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