Chestnut Bunting

Emberiza rutila Pallas, 1776

14–15 cmLength18 gWeight

It is a rather small bunting, the male in the breeding season with a bright chestnut head and back and a yellow breast and belly.

Busiest months: April · Most records: China, South Korea, Thailand

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Male has a bright chestnut-rufous head and upperparts
Male has a yellow breast and belly, with stripes on the sides
Tail relatively short, with almost no white on the outer feathers

Male, female and young

Female mainly dark rufous, with dark stripes on the back and a mostly pale yellow belly; male duller in the non-breeding season.

Voice

A single short “zick”, similar to the call of Little Bunting.

Where and when it's recorded

Chestnut Bunting has been recorded at 349 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 13 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Matsu – Dongyin Vegetable FarmChina373 records
Matsu – DongyinChina311 records
Yeliu IBATaiwan (China)279 records

More places

Matsu – Dongyin Shizi Vegetable FarmChina254 records
Po ToiHong Kong (China)238 records
Eocheong-do (island)South Korea201 records
Oeyeon-do (island)South Korea145 records
Happy IslandChina138 records
Khurkh Bird Ringing Station, Khentii, MNMongolia128 records
Matsu – Dongyin PlaygroundChina110 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China South Korea Thailand Mongolia Russia Vietnam Japan Myanmar (Burma)

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The chestnut bunting (Schoeniclus rutilus) is a passerine bird in the Old World bunting family Emberizidae found in the east Palearctic.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Chestnut Bunting?

The Chestnut Bunting is about 14–15 cm long and weighs around 18 g.

Where does the Chestnut Bunting live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: temperate central, east-central Palearctic open forest: south-central Russia and north-central Mongolia to southern Sea of Okhotsk and Ussuriland (southeastern Russia) and northeastern Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang (northeastern China). It is most often recorded in China, South Korea and Thailand.

When is the best time to see the Chestnut Bunting?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in April (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Chestnut Bunting endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Chestnut Bunting as Least Concern.

What does the Chestnut Bunting eat?

Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.

What family is the Chestnut Bunting in?

It belongs to the family Buntings (Emberizidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).

At a glance

Length: 14–15 cm
Weight: 18 g
Habitat: Forest
Diet: Insects & other invertebrates
Lifestyle: Active on the ground
Migration: Migratory
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 75 mm
Tail: 57 mm
Bill: 12 mm
Tarsus: 19 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Palearctic: temperate central, east-central Palearctic open forest: south-central Russia and north-central Mongolia to southern Sea of Okhotsk and Ussuriland (southeastern Russia) and northeastern Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang (northeastern China)

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2