Black-headed Bunting, 11/2/2012

In May 2012, a male Black-headed Bunting appeared in Jinshan, New Taipei City. Since it's in breeding season, the bunting was in colorful breeding plumage with bright yellow covering its underpart and part of its head, very attractive. People said it's the first time the male Black-headed Bunting had ever been recorded in Taiwan. A lot of birding fans rushed to the site to take photos, immediately after the news spread out. I was not aware of the site, so I missed it that time.

Fortunately, in November 2012, another Black-headed Bunting appeared again in Wugu Wetland, New Taipei City. This time it's a female. Although the female plumage is not as colorful as the male's, it still attracted wave after wave of birding fans, since it's belong to vagrant or disoriented birds and hardly appeared in Taiwan. I had never seen so many birding fans jamming Wugu Wetland before.

Black-headed Buntings breed in the area from southeastern Europe to Middle East, and winter in southern Middle East, India and Nepal, with very few drifting into Southeast Asia and China. I guess this one is probably one of the few that were drifting into China.















female video recorded at Wugu Wetland, New Taipei City, Taiwan, on 11/2/2012

Chinese name:	黑頭鵐
English name:	Black-headed Bunting
Nickname:
Scientific name:	Emberiza melanocephala
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Emberizidae
Species status:	Species
Conservation status:	Least Concern
Migration status:	Disoriented bird
Frequency of appearance:	Rare in Taiwan
Foods:	Insects, seeds, cereals, juicy fruits
Habitat:	Short trees, farm fields
Altitude:	Low altitudes
Behavior:	Often appear alone
Characteristics:	General Characteristics: About 17 cm long. Bill is gray. Feet are light yellowish brown. Summer Plumage: For males, head is black. The underpart is yellow without vertical lines. The upperpart is mainly grayish brown. Throat is yellow. There is a large area of half-moon shaped yellow mark on side neck running toward throat. Rump is yellow. The underpart is mixed with grayish white, gray and grayish brown. Winter Plumage: For males, head is dark brown. For females, the upperpart is mainly grayish brown. Wing and tail is darker. There are vertical dark brown stains on head, rear neck and back. Wing edges are grayish white. Rump is light yellowish brown. Similar species:
Breeding places:	Breeding in the area from southeastern Europe to Middle East, including Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Iran, etc.
Migration destinations:	Wintering in southern Middle East, India, Nepal, etc., with very few drifting into southern and central Europe, northern Africa, Southeast Asia, China, Korean Peninsula, Japan, Taiwan, etc.
Time photographed:	11/2/2012
Location found:	Wugu Wetland, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Sources:	Internet
Notes: