Yellow-throated Bunting (Emberiza elegans) — identification, habitat & look-alikes

The Yellow-throated Bunting is a small East Asian bird found along woodland edges and shrubby hillsides. It has a pointed crest, and males have bright yellow eyebrows and throats with black markings on the face and chest. It is an exceptionally rare visitor to the United States.

Appearance

Appearance: It is about 6 in (15.5 cm) long. Males have a yellow eyebrow and throat, a dark pointed crest, and a dark bib; females replace much of the black with brown and look less sharply patterned.

Look-alikes

Rustic BuntingEmberiza rustica

A female Yellow-throated Bunting has a faint yellow wash on the eyebrow and throat and a plain gray-brown rump. A Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica) has a more reddish, scaled-looking rump and lacks the yellow throat.

Why they get mixed upBoth are small, streaked Eurasian buntings that can raise a short crest.

Where it lives

Typical habitats: woodland edges
shrubby hillsides
orchards
farm edges
Range: It breeds across parts of eastern Russia, northeastern China, Korea, and a few Japanese localities, then winters farther south in East Asia. It has no regular US population and is only an accidental in Alaska.
Seasonal presence: It is not a regular migrant or resident in the United States.

Behavior

Diet: In its East Asian range it eats insects in summer and seeds in winter.
Activity: In East Asia, wintering birds feed on the ground in small groups near shrubs and trees.

Life cycle

Breeding season: Breeding takes place in spring and summer within its East Asian range, not in the United States.
Nest: It nests low or on the ground among roots, grass, and shrubs.

Name and classification

About the name: The East Asian populations include three named : E. e. elegans, E. e. elegantula, and E. e. ticehursti. Breeding birds in Korea are treated as E. e. elegans.

Conservation

IUCN Red List: LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction

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