- 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 Nominate cia is found over most of range with slightly larger and paler par in Crimea and Caucasus, more heavily streaked with buff rump. Various other races have been described but differences are very slight.
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.
<flashmp3>Emberiza cia (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
References
- Birdwatchers Pocket Guide ISBN 1-85732-804-3
- Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
