Common Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) [XC105199]
by Volker Arnold from Kochanowskie, Wytyczno, Poland, Germany (song)
Common Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) [XC864090]
by Paul Kelly from Tacumshin Lake (East End), County Wexford, Ireland (call)
Nest
A cup of grass and moss, on the ground in a clump of grass or rushes, or off the ground in a bush, often near water.
Eggs (Guide)
4 - 5; pale bluish-grey with dark spots and scratches.
Subspecies
Together with Pallas's Bunting (Emberiza pallasi) and Ochre-rumped Bunting (Emberiza yessoensis), sometimes placed in genus Schoeniclus. Recent molecular study indicates that it is a sister-species to Pallas's Bunting (Emberiza pallasi), with Ochre-rumped Bunting (Emberiza yessoensis) as sister to both. Subspecies minor sometimes included in Pallas's Bunting (Emberiza pallasi). Geographical variation complex and considerable within wide range. Broadly, northern subspecies are smaller, with thinner bill, and southern subspecies larger, with thicker bill with strongly curved culmen, also clinal variation evident, birds becoming paler from west to east of species' range. For convenience, subspecies can be divided into four groups, i.e. "northern group" (nominate, lusitanica, passerina, parvirostris), "eastern group" (pyrrhulina, minor), "intermediate group" (stresemanni, ukrainae, incognita, pallidior), and "southern group" (witherbyi, intermedia, tschusii, reiseri, caspia, korejewi, pyrrhuloides, harterti, centralasiae, zaidamensis); these perhaps represent more than one species, e.g. in northern Italy apparent lack of interbreeding between thin-billed nominate subspecies and thick-billed intermedia where the two meet, and clear (though weak) degree of genetic differentiation detected between them. Almost 40 subspecies described, some representing points along a cline, others based on trivial differences, and these considered not to merit recognition. In addition, contradictory statements in the literature and, in some cases, inadequate information make delimitation of subspecies difficult. Ranges and descriptions ascribed are provisional and to some extent tentative, and should be treated with a degree of caution.
Other proposed subspecies include goplanae (described from Warsaw, in Poland), mackenziei (from South Uist, in Outer Hebrides) and turonensis (from Mézieres en Brenne, in Indre department of central France), all synonymized with nominate, and pallidissima (from Verkhy Karelina, in upper R Nizhnyaya Tunguska, and Olekminsk, in west-central Siberia) treated as synonym of parvirostris. A thorough review is required.
The following 20 subspecies are recognised:
schoeniclus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Breeds Europe from Scandinavia east to Pechora Basin and Urals, south to British Is, most of France, western Austria, northern Italy, and across south-western Russia. Winters south to northern Africa and south-western Asia.
passerina Pallas, 1771 - Breeds north-western Siberia from lower R Ob east to lower R Yenisey and lower R Khatanga (in Taymyr). Winters in southern Asia east to northern India and western China.
parvirostris Buturlin, 1910 - Breeds central Siberia (east to central Yakutia). Winters in north-western and northern China.
pyrrhulina (Swinhoe, 1876) - Breeds eastern Siberia (Kamchatka) and northern Japan (Hokkaido). Winters in central Japan, Korea and eastern China.
minor Middendorff, 1853 - Breeds Transbaikalia east to Russian Far East and north-eastern China (Heilongjiang). Winters in eastern China.
stresemanni Steinbacher, 1930 - Eastern Austria, Hungary and northern Serbia.
ukrainae (Zarudny, 1917) - Ukraine and adjacent south-western Russia.
incognita (Zarudny, 1917) - South-eastern European Russia east to northern Kazakhstan.
pallidior Hartert, 1904 - Breeds south-western Siberia (in basins of R Tobol and R Irtysh) east to L Baikal. Winters in south-western and south-central Asia.
witherbyi von Jordans, 1923 - Mediterranean coast of France, Sardinia, Balearic Is, Spain (except north-west) and northern Africa (north-western Morocco).
lusitanica Steinbacher, 1930 - North-western Spain and Portugal.
intermedia Degland, 1849 - Italy and Adriatic coast south to north-western Albania.
tschusii Reiser & Almasy, 1898 - R Danube in Bulgaria and Romania, and in northern Black Sea region and Sea of Azov coast.
reiseri Hartert, 1904 - South-eastern Albania, north-western Greece, southern Macedonia and western and central Turkey.
caspia Ménétries, 1832 - Eastern Turkey east to eastern Transcaucasia and northern and north-western Iran, possibly also in Syria.
korejewi (Zarudny, 1907) - South-western and south-eastern Iran and southern Turkmenistan.
pyrrhuloides Pallas, 1811 - Breeds northern Caspian Sea region (from R Terek) east to western Mongolia, L Balkhash (south-eastern Kazakhstan) and central Tien Shan. Non-breeding also to south-western and central Asia.
harterti Sushkin, 1906 - Extreme southern Russia (southern Tuva), extreme eastern Kazakhstan and extreme north-western China (north-western Xinjiang).
centralasiae Hartert, 1904 - Tarim Basin east to Lop Nur, in Xinjiang (western China).
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet