house bunting

Emberiza sahari

The house bunting is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae.

It is a resident breeder of dry country from north-western Africa from Morocco south to Mali and east to Chad. In Morocco, the species has expanded from the Atlas Mountains northwards since the 1960s, and has recently reached Tangier and Tétouan on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. The house bunting breeds around human habitation, laying two to four eggs in a nest in a hole in a wall or building. Its natural food consists seeds, or when feeding young, insects.

The incubation period of the clutch of three eggs is 12–14 days. The song, given from a perch, is similar to, but weaker than, that of the common chaffinch.
House Bunting Taken on the top floor of the riad we were staying at in the Old Quarter. Emberiza sahari,Geotagged,Morocco,Summer,house bunting

Appearance

It is 14 cm long, similar in size to the striolated bunting and smaller than the rock bunting. The breeding male has a sandy orange-brown body and a grey head slightly dark-streaked but without the white supercilium that the striolated bunting has. The female's head has a brown tint to the grey, and more diffused streaking.

Naming

The house bunting has recently been split from the closely related striolated bunting, of which it used to be treated as a subspecies, ''Emberiza striolata sahari''. The striolated bunting has stronger facial striping and a paler belly than the house bunting.

Cultural

In Morocco, the species is traditionally regarded as sacred, and has become very tame, freely entering and feeding inside houses, shops and mosques.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyEmberizidae
GenusEmberiza
SpeciesE. sahari
Photographed in
Morocco