Yellow-throated Bunting

Emberiza elegans Temminck, 1836

≈14 cmLength17 gWeight

It has an upstanding tufted crest and a supercilium that is white at the front and bright yellow behind.

Busiest months: April and November · Most records: China, South Korea, Japan

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Upstanding tufted crest on the crown
Male has a black forehead, crest, occiput and cheeks
Supercilium white at the front, bright yellow behind, with yellow extending around the back of the head
Back chestnut; breast and flanks with bold chestnut markings

Male, female and young

Female has a less prominent crest, with pale brown replacing the black on the head and face, and no black collar on the lower throat.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: April and November · Most records: China, South Korea, Japan

Yellow-throated Bunting has been recorded at 757 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 4 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Nanhui DongtanChina424 records
Yeliu IBATaiwan (China)416 records
Seoul – Gangseo Wetland Eco ParkSouth Korea315 records

More places

Baengnyeong-do (island)South Korea306 records
Shahe ReservoirChina301 records
Pocheon – Korea National Arboretum/Gwangneung ForestSouth Korea299 records
Wajima – Hegurajima (island)Japan264 records
Matsu – Dongyin Vegetable FarmChina234 records
Beihu MarshlandChina189 records
Beijing Botanical GardenChina186 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China South Korea Japan Russia

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 yellow-throated bunting (Schoeniclus elegans), also known as the elegant bunting, is a species of bird in the family Emberizidae.

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

Questions

How big is the Yellow-throated Bunting?

The Yellow-throated Bunting is about ≈14 cm long and weighs around 17 g.

Where does the Yellow-throated Bunting live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: temperate East Asia forest edge: Amurland, southern Khabarovsk and Ussuriland (southeastern Russia), Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang (northeastern China) to Korean Peninsula, Oki and Tsushima (central Japan); disjunctly Gansu to Shaanxi and south to Yunnan and Hunan (southeastern, central, southeastern China). It is most often recorded in China, South Korea and Japan.

When is the best time to see the Yellow-throated Bunting?

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

Is the Yellow-throated Bunting endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Yellow-throated Bunting as Least Concern.

What does the Yellow-throated Bunting eat?

Main food: Omnivore.

What family is the Yellow-throated Bunting in?

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

At a glance

Length: ≈14 cm
Weight: 17 g
Habitat: Woodland
Diet: Omnivore
Lifestyle: Active on the ground
Migration: Partial migrant
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 74 mm
Tail: 60 mm
Bill: 12 mm
Tarsus: 20 mm

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

Range

Palearctic: temperate East Asia forest edge: Amurland, southern Khabarovsk and Ussuriland (southeastern Russia), Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang (northeastern China) to Korean Peninsula, Oki and Tsushima (central Japan); disjunctly Gansu to Shaanxi and south to Yunnan and Hunan (southeastern, central, southeastern China)

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 2

Emberiza elegans elegans Amurland, s Khabarovsk and Ussuriland (se Russia), Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang (ne China) to Korean Pen., Oki and Tsushima (sw, n of s Kyushu, c Japan)
Emberiza elegans elegantula Gansu to Shaanxi and s to Yunnan and Hunan (se, c, se China)