Emberiza spodocephala
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The black-faced bunting (Emberiza spodocephala) is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name Emberiza is from Old German Embritz, a bunting. The specific spodocephala is from Ancient Greek spodos, "ashes", and kephalos, "headed".
It breeds in southern Siberia across to northern China. It is migratory, wintering in north-east India, southern China and northern south-east Asia. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe. The black-faced bunting breeds in dense undergrowth along streams and rivers in the taiga zone, and lays four or five eggs in a ground or tree nest. Its natural food consists of seeds, and when feeding young, insects. It winters close to water in agricultural or other open bushy habitats.
This bird's general appearance and terrestrial feeding habits give the impression of a dunnock with a bunting's bill. It is similar in size to a reed bunting at about 16 cm long. The breeding male has a dark grey head with a mix of yellow green and black between the bill and eye. The upperparts are brown and heavily streaked with black, except on the rump. The rump is brown and the tail is also a dark brown. The underparts are yellowish white with some fine dark brown flank streaks. The stout bill is pink.
Females and young birds have a weaker head pattern, with olive-grey cheeks and a weak creamy white supercilium. The underparts are creamy yellow heavily streaked with dark brown. The bird's call is like a tzii or tzee. It sound very "metallic" and it is a very short and not exactly a song at all. It nests on trees or on the ground and lays about four to five eggs. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 2 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 4 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ueno Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-faced Bunting sighting in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 126th most-seen of the 285 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.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-faced Bunting in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April to November, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-faced Bunting sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Black-faced Bunting sightings, Wadden Sea National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park (Mongolia, about 10%).
Same genus: Emberiza
The closest relatives of the Black-faced Bunting that you can see in Wadden Sea National Park (genus Emberiza, Old World Buntings) are Reed Bunting (about 20%) and Yellowhammer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-faced Bunting is recorded against all the birds logged in Wadden Sea National Park (10 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.
