Rustic Bunting

Rustic Bunting

Scientific Name: Emberiza rustica

Malay Name: Pipit-Belukar Merah Biasa

Chinese Name: 田鹀

Range: Breeding range stretches from northern Europe to eastern Russia, winters in east Asia.

Taxonomy: Monotypic.

Size: 13–14.5 cm

Identification: In non-breeding plumage, plumage generally warm in colour, sandy brown ear coverts, mantle with black and rufous streaking on a buffy base, dark rufous lesser coverts, tertial tips and secondary edges orange-brown, dark rufous streaking on flanks, rufous on rump, pinkish-orange legs. Distinct from other buntings that have been recorded in Singapore.

Habitat: Typically breeds in swampy, deciduous forest; in wintering range, can be found in a wide range of habitats from lowland forest to open scrubland.

Behaviour/Ecology: Feeds on a range of plant and invertebrate matter, prefers foraging close to or on the ground. Can be found in flocks during migration.

Local Status: Probable vagrant

Conservation Status: Vulnerable (BirdLife International 2025)

Featured articles:

Past records in our database:

Showing only accepted records. Note that records currently under review are also not displayed, and the list may not be a full list of records of this species in Singapore. For more details, check the database here.

Rustic Bunting in Japan. Photo credit: Jared Tan
Rustic Bunting at Marina Grove on 9 Nov 2025. Photo credit: Oliver Farnworth
External Links:

Conservation Status: IUCN Red List Page

Sound Recordings: xeno-canto Link

Wikipedia Entry: Wikipedia Link

References:

BirdLife International (2025). Species factsheet: Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/rustic-bunting-emberiza-rustica on 13/11/2025

Copete, J.L., Garcia, E., & Sharpe, C. J. (2020). Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica), version 1.0. In del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D. A., & de Juana, E. (Eds.), Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rusbun.01

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Bird Society of Singapore. (n.d.). Rustic Bunting. Retrieved on December 9, 2025 from https://singaporebirds.com/species/rustic-bunting.

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