The Japanese reed bunting or ochre-rumped bunting (''Emberiza yessoensis'') is a

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family

Emberizidae The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus ''Emberiza'', the only genus in the family Emberizidae. The family contains 45 species. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills. Taxonomy The family Emberizid ...

. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1863. It is found in

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

, Korea and Japan. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are temperate

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

and swamps. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Taxonomy

The bird family

contains around 300 seed-eating species, the majority of which are found in the Americas, although the genus ''

Emberiza The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus ''Emberiza'', the only genus in the family Emberizidae. The family contains 45 species. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills. Taxonomy The family Emberizid ...

'', with more than 40 members, is confined to the Old World. Within its genus, the reed bunting is most closely related to the common reed bunting and the

Pallas's reed bunting Pallas's reed bunting (''Emberiza pallasi''), also known as Pallas's bunting, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. Taxonomy The bird family Emberizi ...

, which are sometimes classified as being in the genus Schoeniclus.

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognised- ''E. y. continentalis'', which breeds in eastern

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

, northeast China and

Ussuriland Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of the ...

and winters in east China and ''E. y. yessoensis'' which breeds and winters in Japan and also winters in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

Description

It is 15 cm in length. Typically, it is the richest-coloured of the reed buntings, with the pinkest legs and bill in winter. Male: Dark back. Upperparts chestnut, striped black and buff on breast and sides. Nape brown but sides of neck whitish. Female: Buffy submoustachial and throat, and black malar stripes, crown dark brown streaked pale. Juvenile: Pale greyish-brown central crown stripe. Rump yellowish brown. Voice: Call 'sur-swee-ik' or 'tik'. Habitat: Open fields near water.

References

Japanese reed bunting Birds of Manchuria Birds of Korea Birds of Japan Japanese reed bunting Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Emberizidae-stub