Grey bunting

Grey bunting
Male in Japan
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Emberizidae
Genus: Schoeniclus
Species:
S. variabilis
Binomial name
Schoeniclus variabilis
(Temminck, 1836)

The grey bunting (Schoeniclus variabilis) is a species of bird in the family Emberizidae. It breeds in southern Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Kuril Islands and northern Japan, it migrates to southern Japan and the Ryukyu Islands. Its natural habitats are boreal and temperate forest.

This species was formerly placed in the genus Emberiza. In 2026 it was moved to the resurrected genus Schoeniclus based on the results of a 2021 molecular genetic study. Within the genus the grey bunting is most closely related to Tristram's bunting (Schoeniclus tristrami).

Two subspecies are recognised:

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2018). "Emberiza variabilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018 e.T22721003A132005733. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22721003A132005733.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 AviList Core Team (20 October 2026). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2026". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2026. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
  3. 1 2 Cai, T.; Wu, G.; Sun, L.; Zhang, Y.; Peng, Z.; Guo, Y.; Liu, X.; Pan, T.; Chang, J.; Sun, Z.; Zhang, B. (2021). "Biogeography and diversification of Old World buntings (Aves: Emberizidae): radiation in open habitats". Journal of Avian Biology. 52 (6) jav.02672. doi:10.1111/jav.02672. S2CID 236608560.