Friday, March 13, 2009

Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala)

Black-headed Bunting is a passerine bird which breeds in Southeast Europe east to Iran and winters in India. It occassionally occurs in South China including Hong Kong, averaging 1-2 individuals per year. This individual is a female bird wandered to Hong Kong from about 16th Nov to 19th Nov 2008. Its occurrence attracted many birdwatchers and photographers to visit it.

Buntings is a group of birds belonging to the family Emberizidae which is phylogenically closed to finches, Fringillidae. Buntings is seed-eating birds. This hungry passerine was attracted to spend a lot of time on consuming a locally common weed, Digitaria sanguinalis, in Long Valley.

No comments: