Yellow-breasted Bunting (BBRC)

Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola

The first and only record for the county concerned a male in full summer plumage at Gibraltar Point on May 15th 1977. At the time this was only the second British spring record. The bird fed on short turf along the saltmarsh edge close to the observatory and often at close range and frequently sang. Anecdotally (R. Lambert pers. comm.) the bird may have been present the previous day as, on seeing the bird on 15th, a visitor with limited experience had said “Oh look, that Yellowhammer is still here”! Decades later, this still remains the only county record. Given it's extreme rarity nowadays, this seems an astonishing record.

In Britain it is very much a Shetland and Fair Isle speciality, where it used to be a reliable target species for those visiting in mid-September but has now become a true vagrant. From the early 1970s and throughout the 1980s and 1990s it was recorded regularly, with an average of around six individuals a year, and that continued into the present century, with six in both 2002 and 2003. Thereafter, a rapid decline set in; there have been just four British records in the past ten years 2010-2019, the last in 2018.

Numbers at wintering sites throughout its range have shown rapid declines over the last thirty years driven by excessive trapping at migration and winter roosts. BirdLife International now classifies the species as Critically Endangered (BirdLife International 2017). Although trapping was banned in China in 1997 huge numbers are still trapped and sold illegally, and in 2004 an estimated 10,000 birds were still being sold daily in a single market at Sanshui in China’s Guangdong province (Westrip 2017).

Finder’s report: Yellow-breasted Bunting at Gibraltar Point NNR, May 15th, 1977: first county record

by R. Lambert; R. Bunten; S. E. Crooks, A. T. & I. W. Jennings; G. J. Warrilow and D. G. Kirton.

Note: this account is taken from the Gibraltar Point NNR log, events of the day having been summarised by the warden, Richard (‘Dick’) Lambert, and from the original BBRC submissions by the other observers named above;  all three sets of descriptions have been referred to, all of which essentially said the same thing. There were 11 British records in 1977, the highest number ever recorded in one year. Since that era, the decline of this species across its range is all too well documented and in the decade 2011-2020 there were just four British records.

Circumstances and weather

The Gibraltar Point log for that day records the weather at 09.00 hr. as follows: wind ESE 4, cloud 2/8, temperature 10.1 degC, min 6.0, max 12.5; a clear cold start to the day with cloud developing by 09.00hr. Sunny periods until c.15.00 hr. when moderate rain shower. Wind NE in evening, cold.

Gibraltar Point NNR warden Dick Lambert recorded that it was a day of exceptional coverage of the reserve by several groups which produced an apparent increase in numbers of all species, but the only movement seemed to involve Turtle Doves, flocks of c.20 being seen several times. Dick goes on to say that the bird of the day, not to say the last 5 yr. at least, was a Yellow-Breasted Bunting, an adult male. It was first seen by members of the ‘Birds in Spring’ course being run by Stuart Crooks (SEC), identified separately by members of the Leicestershire Ornithological Society and S.E.C., and later seen by many people. It spent most of its time feeding on the short turf along the path from the sleeper track to the Observatory hut, alternating with periods of absence, probably sitting in Elders. It appeared to be very tame, several observers getting within 30 ft. First seen about 11.00 hr., it continued to appear throughout the day until late evening. The finders of the bird made the following notes.

Description

A compact bunting with well-marked chestnut and black streaked back and lemon-yellow underparts was seen feeding in short grass in the east dunes at Gibraltar Point at around 10.00 hr. on May 15th, 1977. In some respects, not unlike a House Sparrow, Passer domesticus. Most noticeable in the closed wing was a conspicuous white wing patch on the wing coverts, as in a male Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs. It was watched for 25 minutes at a distance of 25-40 y (RB et al) and 10-50 m (SEC) using various binoculars - 10x40 Leitz, 10x40 Zeiss and 8x40. Dunnock, Goldfinch, Linnet, Redpoll, and Skylark were in the immediate vicinity for comparison.

General – about the size of Dunnock and Linnet which were feeding close by. Altogether a very distinctive bird varying little from standard Field Guide illustrations, although the second wing bar, though present, was hardly a distinctive feature, being little more than pale edgings (SEC et al).

Head – forehead, lores, ear coverts, chin, and upper throat  black/ uniformly black, crown lighter in colour, and rich brown at certain viewing angles.

Upperparts – white areas on shoulder and suggestion of white outer tail feathers at rest, but when the bird flew, the white outer tail feathers were clearly seen together with the very obviously white shoulder patch – a double wing bar effect resembling a Chaffinch (SEC et al). Back was a rich brown colour streaked black. Wings were brownish-black with white median coverts forming distinctive patch; edges of greater coverts narrowly tipped white forming inconspicuous wing bar (GJW & DGK).

Underparts – lower throat and breast pale, very obvious bright, lemon yellow belly and underparts. Brilliant yellow neck band separated from chest and belly by a dark brown collar (SEC et al). There was distinct brown/black streaking on the flanks which contrasted with the bright yellow belly, and which extended to undertail coverts (DJW & DGK).

Bare parts – showed a ‘typical seed-eaters bill’, dark, and similar to a House Sparrow. Eyes dark.

Sketches of the Yellow-Breasted Bunting from the original RC submission by R. Bunten, May 1977.

Reference

BirdLife International (2017) Species factsheet: Emberiza aureola. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/12/2017.

Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Anton, M., Klvaňová, A., Kalyakin, M.V., Bauer, H.-G. & Foppen, R.P.B. (2020). European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Bird Census Council & Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Westrip, J (2017). Archived 2017 topics: Yellow-breasted Bunting (Emberiza aureola): urgent request for information. BirdLife’s Globally Threatened Bird Forums, June 27th 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org/globally-threatened-bird-forums/2017/06/yellow-breasted-bunting-emberiza-aureola-urgent-request-for-information/ on 30/12/2017.

(Account prepared December 2017; includes records up to 2016)