Male, summer plumage. Taken at Cley Marshes, Norfolk, on June 14th 2024. (© David Hastings)
(1/800th sec at f8. Click image for larger version)
Male, winter plumage. Taken at Otmoor, Oxon., on January 29th 2025. (© David Hastings)
(1/800th sec at f/10. Click image for larger version)
Female. Taken at Otmoor, Oxon., on January 29th 2025. (© David Hastings)
(1/800th sec at f/10. Click image for larger version)

Description

L: 13½ - 15½ cm; WS: 24 cm

Sparrow-sized but slim and with a long, deeply notched tail, the summer male Reed Bunting has a black head, white collar and a drooping "moustache". Females and winter males have streaked heads. In flight the tail looks black with broad, white edges.

Reed Buntings are found in most of the British Isles, excluding the Scottish mountains.

They breed in tall rushes, reedbeds and shrubbery on wet ground at lake margins, as well as drier sites.

Over 50% of Reed Bunting chicks are not fathered by the pair male but are the result of an adulterous liaison, the highest recorded rate of any bird.

It is listed as Amber on the British list. There are about 250000 territories in the UK.

Sightings