Appearance:

Easily recognized bunting with highly contrasting plumage. Tail with black center, boldly framed by white edges and white rump in all plumages. Males with white wings with black hand. Adult females with most inner parts of wings white, juveniles with white wing-bars only. A flock usually has a few adult males which gives away the species with their flashing white wings. Summer plumage of male white with black back, bill and legs. Female less pure white, with buffish head and cheeks. Juveniles mostly grey. Though most of adults white on wing is missing, the tail-pattern is diagnostic in flight also in young birds. In winter plumage the black parts of the plumage turn more brown and buff in both sexes.

Sound:

Contact call a short, melodic and rapidly descending "peeuu". Often alternating with a rattling "trrreet". "Peeuu"-call quite similar to Lapland Bunting, but harder, purer in tone and less nasal. Song simple and melodic. 2-5 syllable motifs with fairly wide tonal range. Can be confused with Lapland Bunting, but is much purer in tone with a less jingling timbre. Local dialects.

Song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Appearance:

Medium sized bunting, resembling a compact Yellowhammer in shape. Head green with yellow markings and underparts orange-brown. Distinct and characteristic, yellow eye-ring and earth-brown (not rufous) rump in all plumages. Female like male, but duller coloured, with streaked head and chest.

Sound:

Distinct bunting-like timbre with very prominent harmonics. Song simple, but varies from region to region. Sometimes structurally similar to yellowhammer, but slower, more melancholic, and with more clearly audible harmonics f.ex. "tze-ti tze-ti tze-ti tweeeee". Beginning with repeated alternating notes (tze-ti) and ending on a lower note fading out with a rising pitch. Sometimes without the ending note (like yellowhammer). Calls: a vaguely House Sparrow-like "chepp", with a ringing quality, and a sharper cut-off "zeep".

Song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-photo:Mick Sway, Licence,Link.