Black-faced Bunting

The Black-faced Bunting is a small, subtly colored bunting with an olive-grey hood in breeding males, dark lores and chin forming a black face patch, and a streaked, olive-brown back. The underparts are washed yellowish-olive, brightest on the belly, and become more subdued and streaked in non-breeding birds and females.

It tends to keep low and somewhat inconspicuous, favoring dense low cover near water or forest edges, and is more often detected by its sharp call notes than by sight as it moves through scrub and reeds.

Key field marks

• Olive-grey head and nape
• Black lores and chin forming a dark face patch in breeding males
• Streaked olive-brown back
• Yellowish-olive wash on the underparts

Similar species

• Meadow Bunting has a chestnut back and grey-and-black striped face pattern, quite different from the plainer olive-grey head of the Black-faced Bunting.
• Yellow-throated Bunting and other related buntings can show superficially similar coloring but differ in head pattern and range.

Habitat

Uses scrub, reedbeds, forest edges, and wetland margins, generally favoring areas with dense low vegetation.

Range

Breeds across a broad swath of Russia, Mongolia, China, Korea, and Japan; winters further south across southern China and northern Southeast Asia.

Migration

A medium- to long-distance migrant across much of its range, moving south for the winter, though some southern populations are resident.

Behavior

Generally keeps low in dense cover, foraging on or near the ground and flushing into low vegetation when disturbed rather than flying far.

Voice

A sharp, ticking "tzip" call, and a simple, somewhat buzzy song given from low cover.

Feeding

Eats seeds for much of the year, supplemented with insects during the breeding season.

Nesting

Builds a cup nest low in dense vegetation or on the ground; lays 4-5 pale eggs with darker markings.