Bird Album
Little Bunting
Emberiza pusilla Pallas, 1776
12–14 cmLength15 gWeight
It is a small bunting 12–14 cm in body length, with a chestnut face and a white eye-ring.
Busiest months: April · Most records: China, South Korea, Mongolia
Looks like Common Reed Bunting
How to identify
Field marks
- Face chestnut with a white cheek stripe
- Black stripes on the crown
- Eye-ring white
- Belly white; breast and sides with dark streaks
Male, female and young
Sexes similar.
Voice
A distinctive “zik”; song is a continuous “siroo-sir-sir-siroo”.
Similar species
Where and when it's recorded
Busiest months: April · Most records: China, South Korea, Mongolia
Little Bunting has been recorded at 1,254 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 53 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
Where it's recorded most
- Taipei – Tianliaoyang WetlandTaiwan (China)1,614 records
- Matsu – Dongyin Vegetable FarmChina1,104 records
- Matsu – Dongyin Shizi Vegetable FarmChina1,061 records
More places
- Nanhui DongtanChina767 records
- Long ValleyHong Kong (China)736 records
- Matsu – DongyinChina604 records
- Shahe ReservoirChina559 records
- Po ToiHong Kong (China)548 records
- Mai Po Nature ReserveHong Kong (China)530 records
- Matsu – Dongyin PlaygroundChina437 records
Countries and regions with the most records
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 little bunting (Schoeniclus pusillus) is a small passerine bird belonging to the Old World bunting family Emberizidae.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Little Bunting?
The Little Bunting is about 12–14 cm long and weighs around 15 g.
Where does the Little Bunting live?
Its breeding range: Palearctic: low Arctic to northern temperate Palearctic in shrubby tundra to taiga: far northern Scandinavia through Russia to Chukotka; in south to far north-central Mongolia (probably) and disjunctly in northeastern China. It is most often recorded in China, South Korea and Mongolia.
When is the best time to see the Little Bunting?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in April (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Little Bunting endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Little Bunting as Least Concern.
What does the Little Bunting eat?
Main food: Seeds.
What family is the Little Bunting in?
It belongs to the family Buntings (Emberizidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).
At a glance
- Length
- 12–14 cm
- Weight
- 15 g
- Habitat
- Forest
- Diet
- Seeds
- Lifestyle
- Varied
- Migration
- Migratory
- Conservation
- Least Concern
More measurements
- Wing
- 70 mm
- Tail
- 56 mm
- Bill
- 11 mm
- Tarsus
- 18 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Palearctic: low Arctic to northern temperate Palearctic in shrubby tundra to taiga: far northern Scandinavia through Russia to Chukotka; in south to far north-central Mongolia (probably) and disjunctly in northeastern China
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Passerines Passeriformes
- Family
- Buntings Emberizidae
- Genus
- Emberiza
Other birds in the genus Emberiza
Crested BuntingEmberiza lathami
Slaty BuntingEmberiza siemsseni
Corn BuntingEmberiza calandra
YellowhammerEmberiza citrinella
Pine BuntingEmberiza leucocephalos
Rock BuntingEmberiza cia
Godlewski's BuntingEmberiza godlewskii
Meadow BuntingEmberiza cioides
White-capped BuntingEmberiza stewarti
Jankowski's BuntingEmberiza jankowskii
Grey-necked BuntingEmberiza buchanani
Cinereous BuntingEmberiza cineracea
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Andreas Trepte. ↗
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