Emberiza chrysophrys
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The yellow-browed bunting (Emberiza chrysophrys) is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern taxonomists from the finches (Fringillidae). The genus name Emberiza is from Old German Embritz, a bunting. The specific chrysophrys is from Ancient Greek khrusophrus, "golden-browed".
It breeds in eastern Siberia and is migratory, wintering in central and southern China. It is a very rare wanderer to western Europe. The yellow-browed bunting breeds in the taiga zone, and lays four eggs in an arboreal nest. In the wild, the adults' diet consists of seeds, but they feed insects to nestlings.
This bird is smaller than a reed bunting, but is relatively large-headed. The upper parts are brown and heavily streaked, and the underparts are white with an orange hue on the flanks and some fine dark streaks. Their stout beaks are pink.
The breeding male has a black head with white crown and moustachial stripes and throat. There is a bright yellow eyebrow stripe. Females and young birds have a weaker head pattern, with brown instead of black, and can be confused with little buntings; however, there is always some yellow in the eyebrow, as well as at least a hint of a white stripe on the crown. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-browed Bunting sighting in Beijing on a given day, based on 148 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 155th most-seen of the 324 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-browed Bunting in Beijing on a given day, against under 5% in November to August, the lowest months.
5th of 11
Of the 11 cities where we can rate Yellow-browed Bunting sightings, Beijing ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Jinhua (China, about 10%), Ningbo (China, about 10%) and Hangzhou (China, about 10%).
Same genus: Emberiza
The closest relatives of the Yellow-browed Bunting that you can see in Beijing (genus Emberiza, Old World Buntings) are Little Bunting (about 20%), Yellow-throated Bunting (about 10%) and Pallas's Bunting (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-browed Bunting is recorded against all the birds logged in Beijing (148 verified sightings), 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.
