Common reed bunting

The common reed bunting is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 as Fringilla schoeniclus and now placed in the genus Emberiza; nineteen subspecies are currently recognized. It is a medium sized songbird, 13.5 to 15.5 centimeters long and weighing 10 to 28 grams, with a small but powerful seed eating bill; males show a black head and throat, a white neck collar and underparts, and a heavily barred brown back, while females are considerably duller, with streaked brown heads and more pronounced barring below. The species breeds throughout Europe and much of the Palearctic, thriving in reedbeds but also inhabiting drier environments such as moorland and arable land on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils; most populations migrate south for winter, while birds in milder southern and western areas remain resident year round. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern, with an estimated European population of at least 4.8 million pairs.