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:

Olive green upperparts, yellowish chest with gradual transition to off-white belly. Very similar to Chiff-chaff, and most field characters are subtle and often hard to see. Distinguished by (usually) pale, yellow-brown legs, dark framing to ear-coverts, stronger supercilium. Long primary projection (often 3/4ths the length of tertials) with irregularly spaced tips (visible when wing folded). Wings slightly more pointed than in Chiff-chaff, and not so fan-shaped. Juveniles often with whole underparts yellow. Frequently flicks tail, but not sideways (unlike Chiff-chaff). Generally also more calm when moving among the foliage.

Sound:

By far most easily identified by it's call or song. Contact/alarm call a soft, plaintive ascending "hoo-eet". Similar to Chiff-chaff, but first part more drawn, giving it a disyllabic feel. Song: A 3-5 second, falling phrase of soft, rippling "svi-svi" sounds, starting high with some attack, and then falling in a mellow manner. The phrase lacks any conclusion, and diminishes both in strength and tempo.

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