Common Reed Bunting

Common Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) is a small streaked bunting whose breeding male has a black head and throat, white collar and brown back. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds widely in Palearctic reedbeds and other damp or open habitats, eats seeds and insects and nests low in vegetation; northern birds migrate while some mild-region populations remain resident. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).