Bunting 1/5 -Yellow Breasted Bunting (Lifer 2026 - 589/688)

Another roll call after the last excursion just a week ago in Bukit Mertajam My gang cannot "chap see" but have to make another 4 hours journey  up north. This time with our  sifu XiaLim in toe. He has already got it but as a diehard birder he is there for better shots. As usual it was very damn hot and sweaty affair. So you guys must plan to bring umbrella, UV overcoat or a shady wide hat to alleviate the hot sunny condition with plenty of fluid. Today we were fortunate that the afternoon it turn cloudy which relieve some of our grievances. Instead we faced another dilemma as they started to burn the padi field  which bring nasty ashy smoke to out location. 

The yellow-breasted bunting breeds in open scrubby areas that consist of dry water rice fields for foraging and reedbeds for roosting, often near water, and is present in Siberia. It lays four to six eggs in a nest on the ground. Its food consists of insects when feeding young, and otherwise seeds.  It is migratory, wintering in south-east Asia, India, and North Korea. It is a rare but regular wanderer to western Europe.

Our Lifer appears ......In the late morning XiaLim manage to  shot the female while calling out to us but we were not ready as the bird gave a window of  seconds  to shot. By the time we were there it was already gone into the vegetation. Later  we decided to leave early for lunch at 12 pm. In dire desperation we prayed for a last hope appearance in the afternoon session. Coming to late afternoon our patience wail but   with a shout from ML of the bunting; hope was high. Pointing toward the undergrowth at ground level I was trying hard to see the bunting which blends so well with the surrounding. Scanning thru my viewfinder I was very lucky to see its movement and luckily my Fuji XT5 was able to focus  abate about 30 feet away (in bird focus mode). I managed a few burst hoping for a more open shot. Within 20 seconds the session ended. 

This is my first Bunting for Malaysia. Hopefully  the other 4 species will travel down  for me to see in my life time.

The yellow-breasted bunting (Emberiza aureola) is a passerine bird in the bunting specie Emberizidae that is found across the Boreal and East Palearctic. The genus name Emberiza is from old german Embritz, a bunting. The specific aureola is latin for "golden".The bird's call is a distinctive zick, and the song is a clear tru-tru, tri-tri.

Until 2004, the International Union for Conservation of Nature considered the yellow-breasted bunting to be a species of least concern. Since 2004, it has been gradually upgraded to a status of critically endangered due to rapid drops in population sizes. It is subject to heavy hunting pressure in China, through which most specimens pass during migration. (wiki)

The yellow-breasted bunting is a small passerine, ranging from 14 to 16 cm (5.5 to 6.3 in) in length, and weighing 17 to 26 g (0.6 to 0.9 oz). For a bunting, it is large and rather stocky similar size as our local Baya weaver.

“Rice bird” as they call it ; has been a popular item on the gourmet menu—particularly in Southern China, including Hong Kong. Hunting activities are pervasive. The birds like to gather in large flocks to roost, making them an easy target for hunters. Over the last three to four decades, the species’ population has plummeted from abundant to “critically endangered” because of consumption by humans. They were consider pest. Conservation in Long valley wetland HongKong may see the striving of these specie.

In Malaysia there are record sighting in Kedah padi field, Kuantan side and Penang as well as in Singapore coastal wetlands

Got the male Bunting in the early morning at the edge of bushland but alas it was just a record shot Tq XiaLim

 

Our Lunch in OCH was very rated 3.5/5 @RM132