Grey-necked Bunting
A species of Old World Buntings, Also known as Gray-hooded Bunting Scientific name : Emberiza buchanani Genus : Old World Buntings
Grey-necked Bunting, A species of Old World Buntings
Also known as:
Gray-hooded Bunting
Botanical name: Emberiza buchanani
Genus: Old World Buntings
Content
Description General Info
Photo By PrasadBasavaraj1 , used under CC-BY-SA-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
This bunting has a long pink bill and is greyish above. The male has a distinctive white eye-ring that stands out in contrast to the grey hood. The chin and throat are whitish pink and are bordered by grey malar stripes. The underparts are pinkish brown. The female is duller but the moustachial stripe can appear more noticeable. The outer tail feathers are whitish. The species was described by Edward Blyth based on a drawing by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton after whom the species is named. It has been suggested that the actual date of the description was 1845 due to delays in the publication of the journal of The Asiatic Society. A supposed type specimen in the Indian Museum was never located. In winter it makes a short subdued click note but the song is a metalling jingle made of swee-swee notes ending with a dzwe-ee-dul. Three subspecies are noted nominate buchanani, neobscura, and ceruttii. 
Size
16 cm
Nest Placement
Ground
Feeding Habits
Grey-necked Bunting has a diet consisting of seeds, shoots, and a variety of insects, especially during breeding season. Forages in pairs or small groups on the ground, feeds mainly in the early morning and early evening, and occasionally forms mixed flocks with other Emberiza species during migration.
Habitat
Grey-necked Bunting favors dry, open terrains such as rocky hillsides and upland plateaus with sparse thorn scrubs and limited vegetation. It primarily occupies temperate grasslands, below elevations of 7000 feet. The species is commonly found at elevations ranging from 900 to 1400 meters during breeding, occasionally ascending to 2400 meters. In winter, grey-necked Bunting resides in stony, dry farmlands and slopes with Euphorbia plants, steering clear of dense woods yet sometimes within bushy patches.
Dite type
Granivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Distribution Area
This bunting is found mainly in dry and open habitats, often stony, scrubby hillsides covered with low thorn scrub. Birds that breed in the Baluchistan region winter in India moving through Gujarat in September and returning in March to their breeding grounds. It is found in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Nepal, China, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It is an extremely rare vagrant north of its breeding range, with recent records from Finland and the Netherlands, though wanderers may be overlooked due to its similarity, in non-breeding plumage, to the closely related and far commoner ortolan bunting. They winter in parts of Africa, West Asia, and parts of South Asia as far south as Sri Lanka. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland mainly below 7000 ft. In winter it is found in weedy or stubbly fields. It nests on the ground under some overhanging vegetation. The nest is lined with grass and hair. The song given from a perch is a series of short and shrill notes that increase in volume. A tick Hyalomma turanicum has been recorded on birds from Kazakhstan. Claud Ticehurst noted that males and females migrated separately.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
New world sparrows Genus
Old World Buntings Species
Grey-necked Bunting 
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