Emberiza fucata
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The chestnut-eared bunting (Emberiza fucata), also called grey-headed bunting or grey-hooded bunting, with the latter name also used for grey-necked bunting, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae. The genus name Emberiza is from Old German Embritz, a bunting. The specific fucata is Latin for "painted" from fucare, "to paint red".
It is 15 to 16 cm in length. The plumage is mostly brown with dark streaks. The male has a grey crown and nape with dark streaks, chestnut ear-coverts and bands of black and chestnut across the breast. There is a rufous patch on the shoulders and the rump is also rufous. Females are similar to the males but duller with a less distinct head and breast pattern. First-winter birds are plainer but show warm brown ear-coverts and have an obvious ring around the eye.
Its voice is similar to the rustic bunting but quieter. The song is a rapid twittering which begins with staccato notes and then accelerates before ending with a distinctive two or three note phrase. The call is an explosive pzick.
The breeding range extends from the Himalayas locally across China to south-eastern Siberia, Korea and northern... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 2 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut-eared Bunting sighting in Nikko National Park on a given day, based on 87 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 102 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June to August
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut-eared Bunting in Nikko National Park on a given day, against about 10% in November to April, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chestnut-eared 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 3 parks where we can rate Chestnut-eared Bunting sightings, Nikko National Park has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Manas National Park (India, under 5%) and Jim Corbett National Park (India, under 5%).
Same genus: Emberiza
The closest relatives of the Chestnut-eared Bunting that you can see in Nikko National Park (genus Emberiza, Old World Buntings) are Masked Bunting (about 40%) and Meadow Bunting (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chestnut-eared Bunting is recorded against all the birds logged in Nikko National Park (87 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.
