Little Bunting (Emberiza pusilla) - BirdLife species factsheet

Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	15 g

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	18,200,000 km²
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	3,480,000 km²
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	30000000-59999999 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2012
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.6 years	-	-	-

Population justification: In Europe, the breeding population is estimated to number 3,010,000-5,540,000 pairs, which equates to 6,030,000-11,100,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015). Europe forms c.20% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is 30,150,000-55,500,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is needed.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats. The European population trend is unknown (BirdLife International 2015).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Afghanistan	extant	vagrant
Austria	extant	vagrant
Bangladesh	extant	native
Belgium	extant	vagrant
Bhutan	extant	native
Bulgaria	extant	vagrant
China (mainland)	extant	native
Cyprus	extant	vagrant
Denmark	extant	vagrant
Egypt	extant	vagrant
Estonia	extant	vagrant
Faroe Islands (to Denmark)	extant	vagrant
Finland	extant	native	yes		yes
France	extant	vagrant
Germany	extant	vagrant
Greece	extant	vagrant
Hong Kong (China)	extant	native
Hungary	extant	vagrant
Iceland	extant	vagrant
India	extant	native
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	vagrant		yes
Ireland	extant	vagrant
Israel	extant	vagrant
Italy	extant	vagrant
Japan	extant	native
Jordan	extant	vagrant
Kazakhstan	extant	native
Kuwait	extant	native		yes	yes
Laos	extant	native
Latvia	extant	vagrant
Lebanon	extant	vagrant			yes
Malaysia	extant	native
Malta	extant	vagrant
Mongolia	extant	native
Montenegro	extant	vagrant
Myanmar	extant	native
Nepal	extant	native
Netherlands	extant	vagrant
North Korea	extant	vagrant
Norway	extant	native	yes
Oman	extant	vagrant			yes
Pakistan	extant	native
Philippines	extant	native
Poland	extant	vagrant
Portugal	extant	vagrant
Russia	extant	native	yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native	yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	native	yes
Russia (European)	extant	native	yes
Saudi Arabia	extant	vagrant		yes
Serbia	extant	vagrant
Slovenia	extant	vagrant
South Korea	extant	native
Spain	extant	vagrant
Sweden	extant	native	yes
Switzerland	extant	vagrant
Taiwan, China	extant	native
Tajikistan	extant	vagrant
Thailand	extant	native
Türkiye	extant	vagrant
Ukraine	extant	vagrant
United Arab Emirates	extant	vagrant			yes
United Kingdom	extant	vagrant
USA	extant	vagrant
Vietnam	extant	native

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Norway	Øvre Pasvik
Russia (Asian)	Forty Islands
Russia (Asian)	Muna-Besyuke
Russia (Asian)	Northern slope of Khamar-Daban mountains

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Boreal	suitable	breeding
Forest	Boreal	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Tundra	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Tundra	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Boreal	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Boreal	suitable	non-breeding
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threats & impact

Threat (level 1)

Threat (level 2)

Impact and Stresses

Climate change & severe weather

Habitat shifting & alteration

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Future

Whole (>90%)

Unknown

Stresses
Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation

Utilisation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	subsistence, national

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/little-bunting-emberiza-pusilla on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.