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Bird Sightings : Hebrides : Reed Bunting
Reed Bunting (Male)
Emberzia schoeniclus
Photograph © Grahame Thompson
Aiginish - Isle of Lewis - Outer Hebrides (Western Isles)
October 7th, 2006Grahame is one of two British Ornithological Society ringers on the island, he does the East side. His usual areas are the Castle Grounds and Aiginish, plus a whole heap of other sites depending on time of year and species.
Our reed bunting photographs
male
male
female
male
- Reed Bunting
- AKA: Fen sparrow, reed sparrow
- Emberiza schoeniclus
- UK Resident Breeder, Passage/Winter Visitor
- RED LIST (major decline), 202,000 pairs (Summer) BTO
- Breeding: Reedbeds & drier open areas, moorland. Tussocks & bushes. Singing male usually perches at top of bushes, reeds. Europe, Asia, North Africa
- Habitat: Reedbed, other wet vegetation, riverine scrub (recent times: also farmland & gardens in winter)
- Diet: Seeds (also insects in breeding season) in sedges, reed, rushes
- Sparrow-sized, slim, long & deeply notched tail. Male black head & throat, white collar & below, drooping moustache. Females & winter males: streaked brown head, streaked below. Flight: tail looks black with broad, white edges.
- Max recorded age 9yrs 11mth, average 3yrs
- Listen to a reed bunting (RSPB site)
- Similar birds: lapland buntings
Distinguishing between winter male and female reed buntings:
You can see a little black left in the head of some of the winter males (in summer the head of the male is all black with a white "moustache"). The female's head is never black.The females are more buff below, the males whitish.
You will notice no eye stripe in the male either and much richer colouring of the mantle, back and wings. (Terry Fountain)
Less than half the chicks raised by a pair are fathered by the pair male. The lowest recorded rate in any bird species.
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