Rock Bunting Emberiza cia par is resident in Tianshan and Altai Mountains in Xinjiang and stracheyi is in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet. HABITAT Rocky, sunny slopes with bushes; also clearings in forests, usually coniferous. ID & COMPARISON Distinguished from Godlewski’s Bunting E. godlewskii by black lateral crown-stripe and black postocular eye-stripe on a lighter grey hood (stripes more clearly demarcated, making head pattern more striking than Godlewski’s); brighter upperparts showing less contrast between scapulars and mantle; weaker wingbars; and brighter, rusty-red underparts. Female and juvenile differ from male as in Godlewski’s. BARE PARTS Upper mandible black, lower mandible grey with blackish tip. Feet orange-brown. VOICE Song similar to Godlewski’s, but more complex and musical. — Craig Brelsford
THE BUNTINGS OF CHINA
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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.
