Emberiza aureola Pallas, 1773

Common Name and Basic Type

This species, commonly called the yellow-breasted bunting, is a small passerine bird.

Body Size

It measures 14 to 16 cm (5.5 to 6.3 in) in length and weighs 17 to 26 g (0.6 to 0.9 oz).

Body Build

Compared to other buntings, it is large and rather stocky.

Breeding Male Plumage

Breeding males have bright yellow underparts with black flank streaks, brown upperparts, a black face and throat bar, and a pink lower mandible.

Female Plumage

Females have a heavily streaked grey-brown back, paler yellow underparts, and a whitish face marked with dark crown, eye, and cheek stripes.

Juvenile Plumage

Juveniles resemble females, but the background colour of their underparts and face is buff.

Subspecies Classification and Breeding Range

Two subspecies are recognized: the nominate Emberiza aureola aureola breeds in boreal forests from Finland to the Bering Sea, and migrates to Indochina; Emberiza aureola ornata breeds from the Amur River to Manchuria, North Korea, Kamchatka, and the Kuril Islands.

Species-wide Migratory Pattern

The species as a whole is migratory, wintering in southeast Asia, India, and North Korea.

Vagrant Occurrences in Europe

It is a rare but regular wanderer to western Europe.

Vagrant Occurrences in North America

There are roughly four records from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and one 2017 record from Labrador, Canada.

Winter Habitat and Roosting Preference

During the winter, the species forms large flocks in cultivated areas, rice fields, and grasslands, and prefers to roost in rice fields.

2023 Myanmar Roost Count

In the first third of 2023, roosts holding up to 6,378 birds were found in reedbeds at Kyon Ka Pyin-Tap Seik Conservation Area in the Irrawaddy Delta, Myanmar.

Count Significance

This count exceeds all previously recorded maxima for the species in southern Asia.