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:

Male with brown back, pinkish white underparts and a bluish grey head with a black eye mask. Female more dull with barred underparts. Juvenile like female, but upperparts also barred . Tail brown with white edges in all plumages. Females and juveniles easily confused with other southern/eastern or vagrant shrikes like; Brown Shrike, Isabelline Shrike, Woodchat Shrike and Turkestan Shrike. Differs from those in white sides of tail, barred rump, mantle and scapulars, scaly underparts and dark or yellowish base of bill (not pink).

Sound:

Call a hard "check check" (like striking two rocks together), and a variable nasal "twee" Song surprisingly varied with many expert imitations of small passerines, interwoven with bell-like ringing and dry chirping sounds. May be confusing and hard to identify if bird not seen. Song not very loud, but phrases can be very long.

Alarm call, 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