Cretzschmar's Bunting

Cretzschmar's Bunting
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Emberizidae
Genus:	Emberiza
Species:	E. caesia
Binomial name
Emberiza caesia Cretzschmar, 1827

The Cretzschmar's Bunting, Emberiza caesia, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae.

It breeds in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and the coastal countries along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean. It is migratory, wintering in the Sudan. It is a very rare wanderer to western Europe.

Cretzschmar's Bunting breeds on sunny open hillsides, with some bushes. It is mainly coastal or insular, and often breeds at lower levels than the closely related Ortolan Bunting where both occur. It lays four to six eggs in a ground nest. Its natural food consists of insects when feeding young, and otherwise seeds.

This bird is smaller than Ortolan. The breeding male has a grey head with orange moustaches. The upperparts are brown and heavily streaked, except on the rump, and the underparts are rusty orange. The stout bill is pink.

Females and young birds have a weaker head pattern, and are more similar to Ortolans. They can be distinguished by the warm brown rump and white eye-ring.

This bird was named after the German physician Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar.

References

1. ^ BirdLife International (2004). Emberiza caesia. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

• Cretzschmar's Bunting From Turkey
• Oiseaux photo