Birdpass
English
Ortolan Bunting

Ortolan Bunting

Emberiza hortulana

Identify the Ortolan Bunting by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

  • Download on the App Store
  • Get it on Google Play

The Ortolan Bunting is a small bunting of open farmland across much of Europe and West Asia that winters in Africa. It resembles the Yellowhammer in habits but is more subtly coloured, with a greenish-grey head, yellow throat and rusty underparts. It nests on or near the ground and feeds mainly on seeds, switching to insects while raising young. It has declined in much of its range, and illegal trapping for gourmet food has contributed to past losses.

Did you know?

  • It was once a notorious delicacy, traditionally eaten whole under a napkin.
  • Genetic studies show its closest relative is Cretzschmar's Bunting.

Voice

Flight call

About the species

Identification

The male has a pale yellow throat and moustachial stripes, a clear yellowish eye-ring and a rusty wash on the belly; the back is streaked brown, white and black, and the bill and legs are pinkish. The female is paler and less boldly marked. Compared with Yellowhammer it lacks the all-yellow head, has a greyish-olive head and warmer, rusty underparts. Its short, clear song sung from exposed perches in open fields also helps.

Family

Emberizidae

Size

Small (sparrow)

Colours

brown, grey, yellow, orange

About the habitat

Open farmland with large fields and scattered trees or bushes on field islets, margins or by farm buildings. It feeds on bare, warm tilled fields early in the season and nests in fallows and other taller grassy vegetation.

Diet

Mainly seeds, supplemented by beetles, larvae, worms and other invertebrates, especially for feeding the young.

Behaviour

Feeds mostly on bare or sparsely vegetated ground, then moves to prominent perches – wires, posts or treetops – to sing a short, clear phrase. Males often form loose singing groups. Pairs nest on the ground hidden in grass. A nocturnal migrant with a clear flight call.

Sources

Photo: Pierre Dalous, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ortolan bunting in Sierra de Guara, Aragon, Spain.jpg

Sound: Tim Vochten, XC947273, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/947273

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions + Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortolan_bunting

See also