Corn bunting – Emberiza calandra
Classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Class: Aves
- Order: Passeriformes
- Family: Emberizidae
- Genre: Emberiza
- Species: Emberiza calandra
Identification characters
It is a large-sized corn bunting with a body length of 16-19 cm. It weighs 32-67 g.
The Corn bunting bird is not sexually dimorphic. The body is massive, the head often appears larger and the bill is thick. The plumage is lark-like, with dark, grey-brownish stripes dorsally and yellowish-white ventrally, with stripes on the sides of the throat, breast and flanks. The scientific name of the species, calandra, comes from the Greek word kalandra/kalandros, which refers to a species of skylark, referring to the southern meadowlark’s resemblance to the lark.
The tail is devoid of white. The sides of the head show no obvious pattern, with blackish streaks on a yellowish-white background, with dark streaks on the sides of the cheeks and lower cheek border, and a dark spot on the back of the ear feathers. On the breast there are streaks which may merge to form an irregular, dark pattern. The legs and sides of the beak are yellowish-pink. On short distances, the flight is heavy, with legs hanging down, but it can also perform long flights with large undulations.
The male can be seen in high places, singing in an upright posture, with its head tilted back and beak wide open. The song is characteristic. A short, repeated stanza begins more hesitantly and ends with an accelerated rattle.