The first Pine Bunting
Emberiza leucocephalos in Jordan
B. C. MINSHULL
WHILST DRIVING ALONG the King's Highway (south-west Jordan) on 14 December 1995, Gillian Isherwood and I paused 15 km north of Wadi Musa to obtain better views of a male Finsch's Wheatear Oenanthe finschii. In the same stony, cultivated field we disturbed various birds including Chaffinches Fringilla coelebs, Corn Buntings Miliaria calandra and three other buntings which called like flushed Yellowhammers Emberiza citrinella and showed red-brown rumps in flight. They alighted in an isolated bush and I observed them through a telescope over the next 10 minutes at a range of less than 100 metres. One clearly exhibited the distinctive head pattern of a male Pine Bunting Emberiza leucocephalos; the others were female or first-winter Pine Buntings.The following description is based on my clear recollection of the sighting.
Size and structure. Typical bunting appearance and approximately the same size as the accompanying Chaffinches, but slightly more bulky and longer-tailed.
Plumage of male. Striking head pattern: steely white crown with dark streaking, brown-red mask and bib with faint narrow white-grey flecks, darker eyestripe and ear coverts surrounding white-grey cheek patch. Grey nape and neck, giving collared effect. Upperparts typical pattern of buntings with dark red-brown centres and pale fringes to the mantle, scapulars and coverts and similarly coloured flight feathers. Rump red-brown, as in Yellowhammer. Underparts whitish with slightly diffuse but comparatively heavy dark red-brown flank streaking. This bird was considered to be a first-winter male.
Plumage of female/first-winter birds. Relatively nondescript, their plumage being typical of female-type buntings. The overall appearance was of a much subdued version of the male. Both had almost purplish, red-brown rumps and flank streaking, and the faintest impression of the male's head pattern. No trace of yellow was evident in either bird's plumage (see Shirihai et al. 1995).
Bare parts. Bills steely grey, eyes dark.
Call. As the birds flew, they gave a soft, slightly rippling 'tsuk', strongly reminiscent of the call given by Yellowhammers in similar circumstances.
The site is at 1400-1500 metres in the Sharra Highlands of south-west Jordan, one of the highest hill ranges in the region. The species is regularly recorded in similar habitats in three areas of neighbouring Israel: Mount Hermon (1300-1700 metres), near Zefat (900 metres) and in the Jerusalem Hills (600-750 metres) (Shirihai 1996). This is the first published record of Pine Bunting in Jordan, although it was recently predicted as a possible winter visitor (Andrews 1995) and listed by Shirihai (1996) for Jordan without details.
B. C. Minshull, 15/4 Echline Rigg, Bridgeview, South Queensferry, West Lothian EH30 9XN, U.K.
| - go back to start of note on Pine Bunting | |
| - view more articles from Sandgrouse 18 (2) | |
| - view articles from other issues of Sandgrouse | |
| - return to OSME home page contents |