Emberiza sahari
In 3 days >90%
The house bunting (Emberiza sahari) is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae. It is a resident breeder of dry country from northwestern Africa from Morocco south to Mali and east to Chad. In Morocco, the species has expanded from the Atlas Mountains northwards since the 1960s, and has recently reached Tangier and Tétouan on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. The house bunting bred in Europe for the first time in 2023, in Algeciras in southern Spain.
The house bunting breeds around human habitation, laying two to four eggs in a nest in a hole in a wall or building. Its natural food consists seeds, or when feeding young, insects. It is 14 cm long, similar in size to the striolated bunting and smaller than the rock bunting. The breeding male has a sandy orange-brown body and a grey head slightly dark-streaked but without the white supercilium that the striolated bunting has. The female's head has a brown tint to the grey, and more diffused streaking.
The house bunting has recently been split from the closely related striolated bunting, of which it used to be treated as a subspecies, Emberiza striolata sahari. The striolated bunting has stronger facial striping and a paler belly than the house bunting.
The incubation period of the clutch of three eggs is 12–14 days. The song, given from a perch, is similar to but weaker than that of the common chaffinch. In Morocco, the species is traditionally regarded as sacred, and has become very tame, freely entering and feeding inside houses, shops and mosques. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marrakesh | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 2 | Fez | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 3 | Tangier | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 4 | Casablanca | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 5 | Rabat | 🇲🇦 Morocco |
Very likely
About 90% of wildlife watchers report a House Bunting sighting in Marrakesh on a given day, based on 1,038 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 5th most-seen of the 86 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–June, August–October and December–February
In those months about 90% of wildlife watchers report a House Bunting in Marrakesh on a given day, against about 80% in March, July and November, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most House 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.
Yes
Of the 5 cities where we can rate House Bunting sightings, Marrakesh has the highest daily chance: about 90%. Next come Fez (Morocco, about 60%) and Tangier (Morocco, about 50%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the House Bunting is recorded against all the birds logged in Marrakesh (1,038 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.
