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.

Appearance:

Rufous tail with dark brown center in all plumages. Most noticeable in flight when tail is spread. Male unmistakable with black face and throat, white band across forehead, orange-red breast and grey back. Female relatively featureless, except for the characteristic rufous tail. Other characters are brown-grey upperparts, pale eye-ring, and orange tinge to breast. Erect posture with frequent tail flicking.

Sound:

Alarm call a slightly drawn, Willow Warbler-like "huit" with a rising pitch, followed by a short, soft "tuc". Song distinct, with three parts: First an ascending single note, immediately followed by a trill, then concluding with a squeaky, rattling improvisation that usually contains some mimicry.

Alarm call, 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