From Opus

Photo by john-henry
Lesvos, May 2004

Emberiza cineracea

[edit] Identification

16–17 cm
Male - dull yellow head, bright yellow moustache and throat, grey back, grey underparts, brownish wings, long white cornered tail, thick pale bill.
Female - brownish grey above, white throat, yellow moustache.

The males are distinctive thanks to a greeny yellow head much plainer than in other male buntings. The birds in eastern Turkey are of a different race in which the yellow extends down the underparts as far as the undertail. Females and first winter birds are dull and streaky with an obvious white eye-ring so could be confused with Ortolan or Cretzschmar's Buntings. However, they tend to be less prominently streaked, especially below, and the females often have a distinct yellow tinge to the throat. The most important clinching feature, though, is that the bill of a Cinereous Bunting is always dull grey rather than pinkish.

Subspecies semenowi
Photo by fotoemin
Nemrut Dagi, Adiyaman, Turkey

[edit] Distribution

Southern Turkey, southern Iran, winters in northeast Africa and Yemen.

[edit] Taxonomy

There are 2 subspecies.^[1]

• E. c. cineracea:

• Arid rocky slopes of western and southern Turkey

• E. c.a semenowi:

• Zagros Mountains (south-western Iran); migrates to Yemen, Sudan and Eritrea

[edit] Habitat

Rocky mountain slopes with scrub.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes seeds and insects.

[edit] Breeding

Three eggs are laid.

[edit] Vocalisation

Call: harsh tschrip; song: zru- zru-zru-zru

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links