Rock bunting

    Emberiza cia

Castilian: Escribano montesino

Catalan: Sit negre

Gallego: Escribenta riscada

Euskera: Mendi-berdantza

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Emberizidae

Migratory status: Permanent resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

Although it is not particularly threatened due to its great adaptability, agricultural intensification is signicifantly changing its habitat.

Length / size: 15-16,5 cm / 21,5-27 cm

Identification: Bunting with short wings and a long tail. It is distinguished by its head and greyish breast with three very characteristic black bands that run across its face; the rest of its body is reddish-brown. There are many black bands that run longitudinally across its wings, and the sides of its tail are white.

Song: Its song is a melodic "sheet teet teet" and its call is a soft whistle, "tsee".

Diet: It primarily feeds on seeds from poaceae plants, leaf buds, shoots and different fruits. In spring and summer it also consumes insects and invertebrates that it snatches from low vegetation and from the ground, which it uses to feed its chicks.

Reproduction: The breeding period begins in April. The female builds the nest on the ground inside a bush, using different plant matter, and she also incubates the eggs. Both parents feed the chicks.

HABITAT

It prefers open areas above an elevation of 900 metres, with scattered scrubland and little vegetation on the ground. In winter it descends to areas of undergrowth where there is more food.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: Its preference for gullies at a certain elevation is the reason it is absent in the Plateaus and depressions of the Rivers Ebro and Guadalquivir.esiones del Ebro y del Guadalquivir.

In Castile and León: Uncommon in the central region of the community. The highest densities are found in León and Ávila.

Movements and migrations: It is a resident species in the peninsula.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 820000 to 1.2 million breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: