Monday 24 July 2017

The Reed Bunting

Back in May, I took some photos of a little bird in a wild rose bush. I didn't know what it was at the time, but now believe it to be a female Reed Bunting. It had a pleasing chirruping song, and when I spotted it, seemed to be calling for a mate, which makes sense, as they do mate as early as May.


The female Reed Bunting   ( Emberiza  schoeniclus )
 

They are about the same size as sparrows, but have longer tails, streaked underparts, and a buff coloured line above the eye.
 

Females have a brown head, and buff throat throughout the year.
 

Reed Buntings prefer to roost in large numbers in reed beds or wet and marshy areas, where they can be safe from night predators.
 

The female makes the nest, and can start to breed as early as May. We saw this one in the wetlands of Alvor, in southern Portugal.
 

38 comments:

MadSnapper said...

a real cutie and as always gorgeous photos from you... thanks for all the comments on my blog

Linda said...

What gorgeous photos of this lovely little bird! Thank you so much for sharing.

sami niilola said...

Hi. What a beauty. Awesome photos.

DeniseinVA said...

Sweet little bird, loved your photos. I find it hard sometimes to take photos of birds when the trees are full of leaves, but yours are absolutely perfect.

Cloudia said...

What a sweet bird

Christine said...

Hello & happy Monday! This is one pretty little bird with bright curious eyes!
Hope they have lots of precious little chicks!

eileeninmd said...

Hello, your Reed Bunting is a pretty bird. Lovely series of photos.

Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

Bob Bushell said...

Fantastic images of the Reed Bunting, love her.

Michelle said...

Superb photos of this bunting.

Prunella Pepperpot said...

What a beautiful little bird, loved the photos. I have to get my bird book out for identification at times and even then I'm a little unsure.
Have a wonderful Tuesday :)

Teresa said...

Es muy bonito. Besitos.

matti niilola said...

Amazing. So lovely bird. Greetings.

NatureFootstep said...

shes quite a little lady. Isn´t she?

Findlay Wilde said...

Really lovely pictures. They are a great bird to listen to.

hmuxo said...

Wonderful photos as always, Sonjia! Your photos are always so clear and beautiful!!! Sending hugs!

Shiju Sugunan said...

Interesting bird and nice pictures.

Phil Slade said...

Hello Sonjia. You really made me look at that Reed Bunting, even go to my library. It looks so much streakier than own.

It seems there is a lot of geographical variation in Reed Buntings, including the ones in Iberia looking slightly different to our own in Northern England and the UK.

Hootin Anni said...

Such a pretty bird!! And great photos, as always.

Mike Attwood said...

Hello Sonjia, Its 18 months since I moved home and during that time I've yet to see a reed bunting. There are several rivers and wet area's nearby but nothing. I'll just keep on looking. Take care, Mike.

riitta k said...

Such a pretty little bird and great photos. I googled this bird and google told that in Finland it is protected for it is in danger of extinction - so very rare here.

Helma said...

Beautiful pictures of an equally beautiful bird!

Best regards, Helma

David M. Gascoigne, said...

This is a great series of a highly variable species with gradations in plumage from one population to another. Methunks we have an incipient bird photographer here. Great job Sonjia!

eileeninmd said...

Hello, the Reed Bunting is a sweet looking bird. Lovely series of photos. It looks similar to some of our sparrows seen here. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Jeevan said...

Lovely series on its various posing and nice learning about their habitat and feature details! Loved the last one with little open beak :)

carol l mckenna said...

Wonderful series of beautiful 'feathered friends' ~ ^_^

Check out my new blog design ~ Happy Weekend to you ~ ^_^

Rajesh said...

Very beautiful shots of bird.

A Colorful World said...

It's such a lovely bird, and you got some great photos!

Christine said...

Hello again! Just wanted to let you know that I love the colourful birds in your header too!

Rose said...

It sure is a pretty little thing!

LEN said...

Bonito Sonjia. Our House Martins are still feeding their chicks , I think, although I haven't seen them flying around for a couple of days.

Stewart M said...

Nice shots - female birds can often eb much harder to identify than the males. How inconsiderate!

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Anni said...

I'm back....
Thanks so much for sharing this bit of your life of birding with in this week at I'd Rather B Birdin'.

ps, it was a pleasure reading your comment you left for me today about how you try and 'guess' what the bird species is for the weekend post. You are getting good at it...guessing correctly!! High 5

Tom said...

...se poised so nicely for you, great pictures.

RobertN said...

Beautiful post.

Richard Pegler said...

Reed Buntings are gorgeous little birds, Sonjia, and they will come to bird feeders here in UK. A delightful post!

Best wishes - - Richard

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

A sweet bird indeed and that last picture is especially beautiful -- those pink blossoms make a perfect contrast -- I just love this~!

Lowcarb team member said...

Such a lovely looking bird.
Great series of photographs.

All the best Jan

Anne (cornucopia) said...

Wonderful photos.

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