Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella erythrogenys is uncommon resident in Tianshan and Altai Mountains, Xinjiang. Vagrant to east. ID & COMPARISON Very similar to Pine Bunting E. leucocephalos, with which it hybridizes. Breeding male patterned like breeding Pine Bunting, but white pigment of Pine Bunting replaced by yellow in Yellowhammer. Other plumages differ from breeding male as they differ in Pine Bunting. In other plumages, usual presence of at least a faint yellow tinge (notably on supercilium, throat, and belly) help to distinguish from Pine Bunting, which always shows a white belly. Yellow-breasted Bunting E. aureola has more prominent white wingbars and a shorter tail. BARE PARTS Bill blue-grey; feet greyish-pink. VOICE Nearly identical to Pine Bunting. — Craig Brelsford
THE BUNTINGS OF CHINA
shanghaibirding.com has research on most of the buntings of China. Click any link below:
Crested Bunting Emberiza lathami
Pine Bunting E. leucocephalos
Yellowhammer E. citrinella
Rock Bunting E. cia
Godlewski’s Bunting E. godlewskii
Meadow Bunting E. cioides
Jankowski’s Bunting E. jankowskii
Grey-necked Bunting E. buchanani
Ortolan Bunting E. hortulana
Tristram’s Bunting E. tristrami
Chestnut-eared Bunting E. fucata
Little Bunting E. pusilla
Yellow-browed Bunting E. chrysophrys
Rustic Bunting E. rustica
Yellow-throated Bunting E. elegans
Yellow-breasted Bunting E. aureola
Chestnut Bunting E. rutila
Tibetan Bunting E. koslowi
Black-headed Bunting E. melanocephala
Red-headed Bunting E. bruniceps
Yellow Bunting E. sulphurata
Black-faced Bunting E. spodocephala
Pallas’s Reed Bunting E. pallasi
Japanese Reed Bunting E. yessoensis
Common Reed Bunting E. schoeniclus
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
