The yellow-throated bunting, whose scientific name is Emberiza elegans, is also known as Huangduban, Black Yuezi, Huangmeizi, Huangfengzi, Chunnuan and Tanchun.

Ecological environment

Yellow-throated buntings often move in small groups in broad-leaved forests at the foothills and gentle mountain streams, as well as in meadows and shrubs in the mountains. They live in the coniferous forest belt and do not form large groups during the migration season. They will choose the broad-leaved forests on the plains to settle down.

Distribution area

The Yellow-throated Bunting is mainly distributed in East Asia, and is found in the Russian Far East, the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese Islands, the Ryukyu Islands and other places; in China, it is found from the north to the northeast to the south. In the vast area along the eastern coast of Guangdong, the northeastern subspecies is distributed from Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Hunan, Jiangxi to eastern Guangdong. The southwest subspecies is found in a vast area centered on the Sichuan Basin and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Its distribution area In winter, the southern limit can reach northern Myanmar, and in summer, the northern limit of distribution can reach Shaanxi. The named subspecies is found in central Taiwan, Liuqiu Islands and other places.

Characteristics

The Yellow-throated Bunting is a medium-sized bird of the genus Bunting, with a body length of about 15 cm. Male and female individuals have the same shape and different colors, but both males and females have a bunch of feathers raised high on their heads to form a crest. This is something that many other birds of the genus Bunting do not have, and it is also an identifying feature of this species. The forehead, crest, occiput, cheeks and throat of the male of this species are all black. The eyebrow lines are divided into three sections. At first, a small section of the eyebrow lines is pure white, and then suddenly turns to bright yellow. The eyebrow lines continue to the back of the head, forming a yellow strip around the back of the head. The third eyebrow line is white and curves downward; the jaw is yellow, the upper throat is pure white, and the lower throat is black; the shoulders and back The waist and upper tail coverts are maroon, with black vertical stripes on the upper back, and the feather tips are white; the tail feathers are black, the two central tail feathers are grayish, and the outer armor of the two outer tail feathers is white. This is also the case for all birds of the genus Bunting. Unique characteristics of this species; the upper wing coverts are the same color as the back, the middle coverts are white, the large coverts are brown, the feather tips are white, and the flight feathers are brown; the lower body is yellowish white from the throat down, and the upper chest and two The flanks are covered with thick chestnut-colored vertical spots. The female's crest is not as obvious as the male's. The black area on the male's head and face is less distinctive brown in the female. The yellow eyebrow lines and jaw are not as bright as the male's. The female's lower throat does not have a black scarf. The rest is basically the same as the male. The iris is chestnut brown; the upper beak is almost black and the lower beak is light; the legs are light grayish brown.

Food

The yellow-throated bunting usually eats plant seeds as its main food, but during the breeding season, it takes forest insects and their larvae as its main food. According to research, its feeding objects mainly include seeds and wild fruits of grasses and leguminous plants.