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Revision as of 23:33, 25 March 2010

Photo by Dave Hawkins
Spain

Emberiza cia

Identification

15.5cm
Grey bill
Longish thin tail
Male: Reddish-brown upperparts, white-outer tail feathers, stripey grey-and-black head pattern.
Female and Juvenile: duller with streaked crown, breast and flanks

Distribution

Breeds throughout Iberia except on Mediterranean coast, southern France in the Massif Central and Alps of Switzerland, north in Germany along the Rhine and east into Austria. In Italy breeds in the Apennines and in northern Sicily and also breeds from Slovenia to Greece and east to Romania and Bulgaria and in the Carpathians in Slovakia and north & central Hungary. Breeds across much of Turkey to the Caucasus and southern Crimea, in the Middle East south to northern Israel. In North Africa breeds from central Morocco to north Tunisia.

Northern birds may be partially migratory but most are resident or altitudinal migrants. Rare winter visitor to Iraq.

Vagrants recorded north to Britain, Sweden, Poland and Germany, also Malta, Cyprus, Libya and Kuwait.

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

• E. c. cia:

• Iberian Peninsula and southern Europe to western Asia Minor and Northern Africa

• E. c. hordei:

• Greece, central Asia Minor and Levant

• E. c. prageri: larger, paler and more heavily streaked with a buff rump than nominate

• Crimea, Caucasus, north-eastern Turkey and north-western Iran

• E. c. par:

• North and central Iran to Pakistan, north-western India and southern Altai Mountains

Habitat

Dry rocky hillsides with sparse vegetation, sometimes vineyards and olive groves, juniper scrub and subalpine meadows, crags and ruins. Often at fairly high altitude and reaches 4000m in parts of range, usually under 1500m in Europe.

Behaviour

Flicks tail open when on the ground feeding.

Breeding

They nest on, or near, the ground.

Vocalisation

Call: includes weak zeet and thin seee.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Birdwatchers Pocket Guide ISBN 1-85732-804-3
3. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition

• List of references

External Links