Reed Bunting

Emberiza schoeniclus

The common reed bunting, or simply reed bunting, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae. This species breeds throughout Europe and much of the Palearctic region. While most individuals migrate south in winter, those in the milder south and west of the range are resident. It is a common sight in reedbeds, but also breeds in drier open areas such as moorland and arable land. For example, it inhabits purple moor grass and rush pastures, which are designated as a Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acid soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 87,510 times across 60 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 9°C (typically 6 to 13°C, from 14 areas).

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 50°N in November to 65°N in July, about 1,700 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.