Jankowski’s Bunting Emberiza jankowskii once had breeding range extending from Inner Mongolia to Heilongjiang and Jilin and adjacent Russia and North Korea; now restricted to handful of sites in Inner Mongolia and western Jilin. Non-breeding recorded Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Hebei, and Beijing. HABITAT & BEHAVIOR Breeds in grasslands with scattered scrub or small trees. Nests and spends much time on ground. ID & COMPARISON Recalls Meadow Bunting E. cioides, but paler, with distinctive brown belly patch on breeding male, thicker black streaks on mantle, more obvious white wingbars, and grey not chestnut ear coverts. White supercilium and malar stripe contrast with black lores and lateral throat stripe. Underparts white with brown belly patch and rusty wash to flanks. Non-breeding male paler, belly patch smaller or absent. Female like non-breeding male but has light streaking on upper breast and no belly patch. BARE PARTS Upper mandible black; lower mandible grey with black tip. Feet brownish-pink. VOICE Song a simple, buzzy trill, delivered from top of bush. Calls stlit in alarm, and has soft single or double tsik contact call. — Craig Brelsford
THE BUNTINGS OF CHINA
shanghaibirding.com has research on most of the buntings of China. Click any link:
Crested Bunting Emberiza lathami
Yellowhammer E. citrinella
Pine Bunting E. leucocephalos
Rock Bunting E. cia
Godlewski’s Bunting E. godlewskii
Meadow Bunting E. cioides
Jankowski’s Bunting E. jankowskii
Grey-necked Bunting E. buchanani
Ortolan Bunting E. hortulana
Tristram’s Bunting E. tristrami
Chestnut-eared Bunting E. fucata
Little Bunting E. pusilla
Yellow-browed Bunting E. chrysophrys
Rustic Bunting E. rustica
Yellow-throated Bunting E. elegans
Yellow-breasted Bunting E. aureola
Chestnut Bunting E. rutila
Tibetan Bunting E. koslowi
Black-headed Bunting E. melanocephala
Red-headed Bunting E. bruniceps
Yellow Bunting E. sulphurata
Black-faced Bunting E. spodocephala
Masked Bunting E. personata
Pallas’s Reed Bunting E. pallasi
Japanese Reed Bunting E. yessoensis
Common Reed Bunting E. schoeniclus
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
