Emberiza schoeniclus
Silhouette: Zeynel Cebeci · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The common reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus), 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.
The common reed bunting was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 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... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 2 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 4 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 5 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 6 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 8 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 11 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 12 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 13 | Gauja National Park | 🇱🇻 Latvia | |
| 14 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 2 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 5 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Milan | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 7 | Minsk | 🇧🇾 Belarus | |
| 8 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 9 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 10 | Bucharest | 🇷🇴 Romania |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dresden Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Ogród Zoologiczny w Katowicach | 🇵🇱 Poland |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Reed Bunting sighting in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, based on 127 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 81st most-seen of the 140 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April to June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Reed Bunting in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to March, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Reed Bunting sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Reed Bunting sightings, Cairngorms National Park ranks 10th at about 10%. The best odds are in Biebrza National Park (Poland, about 60%), Kiskunság National Park (Hungary, about 40%) and Hortobágy National Park (Hungary, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Reed Bunting is recorded against all the birds logged in Cairngorms National Park (127 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
