Emberiza lathami
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The crested bunting (Emberiza lathami) is a species of bird in the family Emberizidae. It is sparrow sized with males having rufous wings and tail on a black body and females being less contrastingly coloured in dull brown. Both males and females have the distinctive crest. The species was formerly placed in an monotypic genus Melophus on account of its crest, unique among the buntings. The species has a wide but scattered distribution in Asia. They are found in mostly open and dry habitats over a range of altitudes. Populations in the higher elevations of the Himalayas show seasonal altitudinal movements. They are more gregarious in winter.
Males have a prominent crest, yellowish beak, black body plumage contrasting with the rufous flight feathers of the wing and tail. Females are shorter crested and have an overall dull-olive brown colour with dark brown streaks. The wing and tail feathers are fringed in cinnamon. Females have a grey beak. Non-breeding males are buffish grey and subadults have black tips to the rufous primary coverts.
The species was formerly placed in the monotypic genus Melophus but DNA sequence based phylogenies showed it to be nested within... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 4 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 6 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 7 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Crested Bunting sighting in Jim Corbett National Park on a given day, based on 93 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 196th most-seen of the 368 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.
May–June and September–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Crested Bunting in Jim Corbett National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July–August and December–April, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Crested Bunting sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
4th of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Crested Bunting sightings, Jim Corbett National Park ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Ranthambore National Park (India, about 20%), Manas National Park (India, about 10%) and Chitwan National Park (Nepal, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Crested Bunting is recorded against all the birds logged in Jim Corbett National Park (93 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.
