Little Bunting

Emberiza pusilla Pallas, 1776

Emberizidae — Buntings

Little Bunting, Emberiza pusilla, is a bunting of the Palearctic, breeding from the far north of Scandinavia and Russia east to Chukotka, with further breeding in parts of Mongolia and north-east China. In the non-breeding season it moves to subtropical edges and open country across northern India, Bangladesh, south-east Asia, southern and eastern China, the Korean Peninsula, the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan. It is a small species with white underparts marked by dark streaking, a chestnut face, black crown stripes and a white eye-ring. The sexes look alike.

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Emberizidae — Buntings
Breeding range: Palearctic: low Arctic to n temperate Palearctic in shrubby tundra to taiga: far n Scandinavia through Russia to Chukotka; in s to far nc Mongolia (probably) and disjunctly in ne China
Nonbreeding range: subtropical e Asian edges and open areas: to nc, ne India, n Bangladesh, n se Asia, s, e China, Korean Pen., Ryukyu Is. (=Nansei Shoto, s Japan) and Taiwan