Tristram's Bunting, 10/18/2012

I heard from a birding friend that the birding condition at YehLiu GeoPark was good. So I went there next day. As I arrived, I saw two Daurian Redstarts at play at the bottom of the hill which is the main birding site. So I knew it's going to be good. After I climbed up the hill, immediately I saw lots of birding fans already there photographing a Tristram's Bunting eating the seeds of some kind of weed grown by the trail. The bunting was so hungry that it didn't care about the surrounding crowd at all, as we all took a great deal of good pictures. Tristram's Bunting is rare passage migrant in Taiwan, but they pass by YehLiu GeoPark every year.

















video recorded at YehLiu GeoPark, New Taipei City, Taiwan, on 10/18/2012

Chinese name:	白眉鵐
English name:	Tristram's Bunting
Nickname:
Scientific name:	Emberiza tristrami
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Emberizidae
Species status:	Species
Conservation status:	Least Concern
Migration status:	Passage migrants in Autumn and Spring in Taiwan
Frequency of appearance:	Rare in Taiwan
Foods:	Seeds, insects
Habitat:	Grasslands, bushes
Altitude:	Low altitude
Behavior:	Often appear alone in grasslands or bushes eating seeeds.
Characteristics:	General Characteristics: About 15 cm long. The bird is mainly brown, like sparrow. Summer plumage: Winter plumage: For females, head, face and neck are blackish brown. There are milky yellow vertical thin lines on throat and neck. Crown stripe, eyebrow stripe and cheek line are milky yellow. Breast is light brown with vertical brown stripes. Belly is white. Rump and tail are chestnut. For males, the plumage is like females, but its head, face and neck are black, and its crown stripe, eyebrown stripe and cheek line are white. Male is larger than female. Similar species:
Breeding places:	Breeding in a small portion of southeastern Russia, a small portion of northeastern China.
Migration destinations:	Wintering in southern China, Myanmar, Lao, Thailand, Viet Nam.
Time photographed:	10/18/2012
Location found:	YehLiu GeoPark, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Sources:	Internet
Notes: