Tag: Japanese Reed Bunting

Japanese Reed Bunting

Japanese Reed Bunting Emberiza yessoensis, defunct nature reserve (30.926452, 121.958517), Cape Nanhui, Shanghai, November. (Craig Brelsford)

In China, Japanese Reed Bunting Emberiza yessoensis continentalis breeds Heilongjiang and passes through coastal provinces to winter from Jiangsu to Fujian. Vagrant Hong Kong and Taiwan. HABITAT Uncommon breeder in reedbeds and thickets along lakes and streams; in winter in similar habitats, sometimes farther from water. ID & COMPARISON Similar to Pallas’s Reed Bunting E. pallasi and Common Reed Bunting E. schoeniclus, but more warmly colored and has rufous-brown rump. Breeding male best distinguished by unbroken black hood (lacks white malar stripe of Pallas’s and Common) that extends only to lower neck, and pinkish-brown nape. Upperparts and wings rufous-brown with black streaking on mantle and scapulars. Tail grey-brown with white edges and tips to outermost two rectrices. Underparts creamy white; breast washed slightly darker. Hood of non-breeding male shows pale tips to fresh feathers; hood further broken by pale orange-buff supercilium and hint of malar stripe. Female like male but with more distinct malar stripe set off by black lateral throat stripe. BARE PARTS Bill sharply pointed, all-black in breeding male, otherwise grey above and pink below. Feet pink. VOICE Song a brief, bright phrase repeated after short pauses and containing no trills or raspy notes. Brief tick call. — 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
Yellowhammer E. citrinella
Pine Bunting E. leucocephalos
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
Masked Bunting E. personata
Pallas’s Reed Bunting E. pallasi
Japanese Reed Bunting E. yessoensis
Common Reed Bunting E. schoeniclus

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It’s April! Here’s What to Expect

It’s April now and the sweet spot of migration season is about to be hit. In the Shanghai region, April and May are the two very best months, with the four weeks between 15 April and 15 May being the best time of all.

Here is a list of interesting birds that Elaine Du and I were finding last year around this time.

Japanese Reed Bunting seen on Chongming on 29 March 2015.

Japanese Reed Bunting, Chongming, 29 March 2015.
Japanese Reed Bunting, Chongming, 29 March 2015. (Craig Brelsford)

Brown-flanked Bush Warbler was singing and defending territory on Lesser Yangshan Island last 9 April.

Brown-flanked Bush Warbler, Lesser Yangshan, 9 April 2015.
Brown-flanked Bush Warbler, Lesser Yangshan, 9 April 2015. (Craig Brelsford)

Bar-tailed Godwit found south of Yangkou on 12 April 2015. The godwit had been flagged in 2009 in Victoria, Australia. Endangered Great Knot found near godwit on 12 April.

I submitted a report of the sighting of this banded godwit to the Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG). On 19 April 2015, I received word back from AWSG. This godwit had been banded on 23 June 2009 (nearly 6 years ago!) off Mann's Beach, Corner Inlet in Victoria, Australia.
I submitted a report of the sighting of this banded godwit to the Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG). On 19 April 2015, I received word back from AWSG. This godwit had been banded on 23 June 2009 (nearly 6 years earlier!) in Victoria, Australia. (Craig Brelsford)

Brown-headed Thrush, a scarce passage migrant in Shanghai that breeds in Japan and on Sakhalin, found 9 April 2015 at Nanhui.

Brown-headed Thrush, Nanhui, 9 April 2015.
Brown-headed Thrush, Nanhui, 9 April 2015. (Craig Brelsford)

Japanese Thrush was singing and defending territory at Yangkou on 9 April 2015.

Narcissus Flycatcher was recorded by Elaine and me on 5 occasions in spring 2015 between 16 April and 16 May

Black Redstart: vagrant recorded 18 April 2015 on Hengsha Island.

Black Redstart, very uncommon vagrant to Shanghai. Hengsha, 18 April 2015.
Black Redstart, very uncommon vagrant to Shanghai. Hengsha, 18 April 2015. (Craig Brelsford)

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher: curiously, recorded only once by Elaine and me last spring (19 April, Nanhui)

Siberian Blue Robin: 9 April, Lesser Yangshan

Blue-and-white Flycatcher: recorded on 10 occasions between 12 April and 16 May 2015

Asian Brown Flycatcher had a sustained springtime presence, being recorded on 9 occasions from 9 April to 21 May 2015

Eastern Crowned Warbler: 9 April, Lesser Yangshan

Cuculus sp.: Lesser Cuckoo, Common Cuckoo, and Indian Cuckoo more commonly noted in May; we had an early bird, not singing, on Hengsha on 18 April

Grey-headed Lapwing: aggressively defending territory on Chongming on 29 March. Hear their manic cries (01:33; 4.5 MB):

Curlew Sandpiper: near-threatened species first noted by us last year on 23 April at Yangkou

Red-necked Stint: 10 April, Chongming

Terek Sandpiper: 11 April, Yangkou

Last year in the Shanghai region, Elaine and I birded 32 of the 86 days between 29 March and 22 June, noting 243 species. The report we wrote about the experience is called Shanghai-area Springtime Birding, 2015. Feel free to use our report to get an indication of the birds you can find in springtime in the Shanghai area.
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