Common reed bunting
The common reed bunting, or simply reed bunting, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae. This species breeds throughout Europe and much of the Palearctic region. While most individuals migrate south in winter, those in the milder south and west of the range are resident. It is a common sight in reedbeds, but also breeds in drier open areas such as moorland and arable land. For example, it inhabits purple [moor grass and rush pastures], which are designated as a Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acid soils of the lowlands and upland fringe.
Taxonomy
The common reed bunting was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of [Systema Naturae|tenth edition] of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla schoeniclus. This bunting is now placed in the genus Emberiza that Linnaeus had introduced in the same edition of his Systema Naturae. The genus name Emberiza is from Old German Embritz, a bunting. The specific epithet schoeniclus is from the Ancient Greek skhoiniklos, a word that was used by Greek authors for an unidentified bird. Linnaeus specified the type locality as Europe but this is now restricted to Sweden. Nineteen subspecies are recognised.The bird family Emberizidae contains about 300 species of seed-eating birds, most of which are endemic to the Americas. However, the genus Emberiza, which comprises over 40 species, is exclusively found in the Old World. Within its genus, the common reed bunting is most closely related to the Japanese reed bunting and Pallas's reed bunting, with the three species sometimes being classified in their own genus, Schoeniclus.
Subspecies
Nineteen subspecies are recognised, including- E. s. schoeniclus, the nominate subspecies, which occurs in most of Europe, E. s. witherbyi which is found in south Portugal, western Spain, France and Sardinia, E. s. intermedia from Italy and the Adriatic coast to northwest Albania, E. s. reiseri from southeast Albania, northwest Greece, south North Macedonia and west and central Turkey, E. s. caspia from east Turkey and northwest Iran, E. s. korejewi from southwest and eastern Iran and south Turkmenistan, E. s. pyrrhuloides from north Caspian sea region to western Mongolia, southeast Kazakhstan and central Tien Shan, E. s. passerina from northwest Siberia, wintering in south Asia, E. s. parvirostris from central Siberia wintering in northern China, E. s. pyrrhulina from Kamchatka and northern Japan, wintering in central Japan, Korea and eastern China, E. s. pallidior from southwestern Siberia wintering in southwest Asia, E. s. minor from Russian Far East and northeast China, wintering in east China, E. s. ukrainae from Ukraine and adjacent areas of Russia, E. s. incognita from southeastern European Russia to north Kazakhstan and E. s. zaidamensis, endemic to northwest Qinghai, China.Description
The common reed bunting is a medium-sized bird, long and weighing 10–28 g, with a small but powerful seed-eating bill. The male has a black head and throat, white neck collar and underparts, and a heavily barred brown back. The female is much duller, with a streaked brown head, and more barring underneath.The male's song is a repetitive.