Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus

The Reed Bunting, Emberiza schoeniclus, is a medium-sized bunting belonging to the family Emberizidae, closely associated with wetland and waterside habitats across Britain. Breeding males are handsome birds – black head and throat, white collar and moustachial stripe, and streaked brown upperparts – while females and winter males are more subdued, with a streaked brown head pattern. The song is a simple, rather mechanical sequence of hesitant notes, repeated persistently from an exposed reed stem or low shrub. Though traditionally a bird of reedbeds, fens, and wet scrub, it has extended into drier farmland habitats in some areas. The Reed Bunting has declined significantly and is an Amber List species in Britain, with loss of wetland habitat and agricultural intensification both contributing factors. Image: © Neil Rolph, Flickr.

Find out more: RSPB, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, iNaturalist