Buntings and New World Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Ochre-rumped Bunting (Emberiza yessoensis) - HBW 16, p. 535

French: Bruant de Yéso German: Mandschurenammer Spanish: Escribano Culiocre
Other common names: Chinese Reed Bunting, Japanese (Reed) Bunting

Taxonomy: Schoenicola yessoënsis Swinhoe, 1874, near Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan.
This species, together with E. pallasi and E. schoeniclus, sometimes placed in genus Schoeniclus. Recent molecular study indicates that it is a sister-species to both of those. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • continentalis Witherby, 1913 - breeds in extreme E Mongolia, NE China (Heilongjiang) and S Russian Far East (Ussuriland); winters in coastal E China.
  • yessoensis (Swinhoe, 1874) - breeds in C & S Japan (N & C Honshu and Kyushu); winters in S Japan and Korea.