Bunting (bird)

Bunting (bird)
For other uses, see bunting.
Buntings
Yellowhammer
Emberiza citrinella
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Emberizidae
Genera

Melophus
Latoucheornis
Emberiza
Miliaria
Plectrophenax

Buntings are a group of Eurasian and African passerine birds of the family Emberizidae.

They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills, and are the Old World equivalents of the species known in North America as (American) sparrows. (However, these birds are not closely related to the Old World sparrows which are in the family Passeridae.)

Their habits are similar to those of finches, with which they sometimes used to be grouped. Some emberizids are still named "finches" rather than "buntings". Conversely, there are species retaining the name "bunting" which are now classed in the cardinal family. Among those are the Painted and Indigo Buntings.

Contents

Genera and species

In taxonomic order (but see Systematics section below).

The Lark Bunting, Calamospiza melanocorys is an American sparrow.

The Lapland Bunting, Calcarius lapponicus, is also known as Lapland Longspur, and is considered under longspurs.

Systematics

A recent paper[1] has revealed some of the internal structure of the genus Emberiza dividing it into four main clades. Despite morphological divergences the genera Latoucheornis, Miliaria and Melophus were all found to be nested within Emberiza leading the authors to propose their synonymisation with that genus.

Clade A - Emberiza species: tristrami, variabilis, chrysophrys, aureola, pusilla, rutila, rustica, sulphurata, spodocephala, schoeniclus, pallasi, yessoensis, elegans, with "Latoucheornis" siemsseni.

Clade B - Emberiza species: leucocephalos, citrinella, stewarti, cirlus, hortulana, caesia, buchanani, cia, godlewskii, cioides, jankowskii, fucata, with "Miliaria" calandra.

Clade C - Emberiza species: melanocephala, bruniceps with "Melophus" lathami.

Clade D - Emberiza species: striolata, tahapisi, impetuana, capensis, flaviventris, cabanisi.

Buntings not yet tested and therefore still to be placed in this scheme include Emberiza species koslowi & cineracea (probably in clade B), and sahari, socotrana, poliopleura, and affinis (probably in clade D).

References

  1. ^ Alström, P., Olsson, U., Lei, F., Wang, H-t., Gao, W. & Sundberg, P. Phylogeny and classification of the Old World Emberizini (Aves, Passeriformes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 47, pp. 960-973.

Bibliography

Buntings and Sparrows - A Guide to the Buntings and North American Sparrows by Urban Olsson and Jon Curson, illustrated by Clive Byers (1995) ISBN 1-873403-19-4

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bunting — can refer to:* Bunting (bird), a group of birds * An infant sleeping bag * The act of laying down a bunt, a type of offensive play in baseball * Bunting (textile), a lightweight cloth material often used for flags and festive decorations * Bye,… …   Wikipedia

  • bunting — ‘bird’ [13] and bunting ‘flags’ [18] are presumably two distinct words, although in neither case do we really know where they come from. There was a now obsolete English adjective bunting, first recorded in the 16th century, which meant ‘plump,… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • bunting — ‘bird’ [13] and bunting ‘flags’ [18] are presumably two distinct words, although in neither case do we really know where they come from. There was a now obsolete English adjective bunting, first recorded in the 16th century, which meant ‘plump,… …   Word origins

  • Bunting — Bun ting, n. [Scot. buntlin, corn buntlin, OE. bunting, buntyle; of unknown origin.] (Zo[ o]l.) A bird of the genus {Emberiza}, or of an allied genus, related to the finches and sparrows (family {Fringillid[ae]}). [1913 Webster] Note: Among… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bunting — bunting1 /bun ting/, n. 1. a coarse, open fabric of worsted or cotton for flags, signals, etc. 2. patriotic and festive decorations made from such cloth, or from paper, usually in the form of draperies, wide streamers, etc., in the colors of the… …   Universalium

  • bunting — {{11}}bunting (1) flag material, 1742, perhaps from M.E. bonting gerundive of bonten to sift, because cloth was used for sifting grain, via O.Fr. from V.L. *bonitare to make good. {{12}}bunting (2) type of lark like bird, c.1300, bountyng, of… …   Etymology dictionary

  • bunting — Ortolan Or to*lan, n. [F., fr. It. ortolano ortolan, gardener, fr. L. hortulanus gardener, fr. hortulus, dim. of hortus garden. So called because it frequents the hedges of gardens. See {Yard} an inclosure, and cf. {Hortulan}.] (Zo[ o]l.) (a) A… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bunting — sb. (the bird). Wright’s L. P. p. 40 …   Oldest English Words

  • bunting — bun·ting || bÊŒntɪŋ n. cloth used to decorate streets during holidays; fabric used to make flags; action of slowly hitting a ball n. brown or gray European passerine bird with a short stout that feeds on seedsn. act of hitting a baseball… …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Indigo Bunting — Male (above), female (below) Conservation status …   Wikipedia

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