Appearance:

In all plumages recognized by its long tail, call, and choice of habitat (reeds). Male unmistakable, with bluish grey head, yellow bill and black drooping moustache. Females and juveniles mostly plain, yellow-brown with whitish underparts and no moustache. Young females with dark bill, young males with yellow bill and black lore. Juveniles with black patch on back and black outer tail feathers. Flight whirring and undulated. Sometimes fans tail in flight with twisting motions.

Sound:

More often heard than seen. Usually identified by contact call; a ringing, explosive "tschin" with a characteristic "dirty" timbre. Also a hard and very short "pit", often mixed with the previous. Song a primitive, 3-syllable phrase, consisting of contact call-like sounds.

Contact call:

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:sussexbirder, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Large and rather heavy bunting with yellow bill in all plumages. Head of breeding male brightly tricoloured in black, white and warm, rufous brown. Female similar to male, but much duller coloured, and with black parts speckled. All adults show rufous hind-neck. Juveniles show rufous greater coverts and may be confused with Reed Bunting. Differs from RB in yellow bill, dark spots on chest and cleaner markings on cheeks. Often runs along the ground like a mouse.

Sound:

Song: a short, creaky, brittle phrase, rich in harmonics; "kril-trrlrtt-ti-trlllkrlltrrt". Somewhat reminiscent of Horned Lark, but without its hesitating intro. In form a bit like Snow Bunting, but much less clear tones. Call: A Snow Bunting-like "prrrrit", but tone harder. Also a Snow Bunting-like "pjuu". Other sounds: soft, whistling calls reminiscent of Bullfinch, but with richer harmonics.

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

CC