The yellow bunting or Japanese yellow bunting is a passerine bird of eastern Asia in the bunting family Emberizidae. It is threatened by habitat loss, the use of pesticides and trapping for the cagebird industry.
Region
East Asia
Typical Environment
Breeds in lowland to montane forest edges, riverine scrub, and secondary growth in Japan, especially on Honshu, with migrants moving to Taiwan, the Philippines, and parts of southeast China in winter. It favors dense undergrowth near clearings, streams, and lightly wooded farmland. In winter it uses hedgerows, bamboo thickets, lightly wooded valleys, and rice field margins. It avoids deep, closed-canopy forest, preferring shrubby edges and mosaics of woody and open habitats.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called the Japanese yellow bunting, this species breeds in Japan and winters further south in East and Southeast Asia. It has declined due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and trapping for the cagebird trade. Protection of breeding thickets and pesticide-free farmland is critical to its recovery. Males are strikingly yellow, making them conspicuous when singing from low perches in spring.
Emberiza sulphurata MHNT
Temperament
shy and skulking
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with undulating bursts
Social Behavior
Pairs form on the breeding grounds; the species nests low in dense shrubs or saplings with a cup nest. Clutches are typically laid in spring to early summer. Outside the breeding season it often forms small, loose flocks that forage quietly in thickets and along field edges.
Migratory Pattern
Seasonal migrant
Song Description
The male delivers a soft, sweet series of clear notes and thin trills from a low perch. Calls include high, sibilant seee or tsip notes, often given from cover. The song is quieter and more delicate than many other buntings.
Plumage
Male with bright yellow head and underparts, olive- to greenish-brown upperparts with dark streaking, and two pale wingbars; female/immature duller, more olive and heavily streaked. Plumage appears clean and vivid in spring males, with contrast between yellow face and streaked mantle.
Diet
Eats small seeds of grasses and weeds, complemented by insects such as beetles, caterpillars, and other arthropods, especially during the breeding season. It may also take buds and small berries when available. Young are fed predominantly insect prey to supply protein for growth.
Preferred Environment
Forages on or near the ground along forest edges, shrubby clearings, riverbanks, and agricultural margins like rice paddies. In winter it feeds within dense cover, occasionally venturing to open field edges and paths.
