The rock bunting (''Emberiza cia'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

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 bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

es, Fringillidae. Rock Bunting (Cochem)

The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from

Old German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

''Embritz'', a bunting. The specific ''cia'' is from a local Italian name for this bird, from ''zirlare'', "to chirp".

Range

It breeds in northwest Africa, southern Europe east to

central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

, and the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

. It also breeds locally in central Europe. It is partially migratory, with northern populations wintering further south, mainly within the breeding range of the resident southern populations. It is a rare wanderer to western Europe.

Habitat

The rock bunting breeds in open dry rocky mountainous areas.

Description

This bird is 16 cm in length. The breeding male has chestnut upperparts, unmarked deep buff underparts, and a pale grey head marked with black striping. The female rock bunting is a washed-out version of the male, with paler underparts, a grey-brown back and a less contrasted head. The juvenile is similar to the female, but with a streaked head. There are four races differing mainly in the plumage shades, although the subspecies which breeds in Europe, Africa and western

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

is the only one to show white wing bars.

Foraging and breeding

It lays three to five greyish eggs in a lined nest on the ground or occasionally in a low bush. Its natural food consists of insects when feeding young, and otherwise seeds.

Song

The call is a sharp ''tseee'', and the song is a twittering '' churrrr-chirrriiii-itt''.

References

External links

Ageing and sexing (PDF; 5.0 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta and Gerd-Michael Heinze
{{Taxonbar, from=Q205491 rock bunting Birds of Europe Birds of North Africa Birds of Central Asia Birds of Western Asia rock bunting rock bunting