House bunting

House bunting
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Emberizidae
Genus: Fringillaria
Species:
F. sahari
Binomial name
Fringillaria sahari
(Levaillant, 1850)
Synonyms
  • Emberiza striolata sahari

The house bunting (Fringillaria sahari) is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae that is a resident breeder in rocky areas of northern Africa.

Taxonomy

This species was formerly placed in the genus Emberiza. In 2026 it was moved to the resurrected genus Fringillaria based on the results of a 2021 molecular genetic study.

The house bunting has 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.

Two subspecies are recognised:

Description

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.

The song, given from a perch, is similar to but weaker than that of the common chaffinch.

Distribution

The house bunting is a resident breeder of dry country from northwestern 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 bred in Europe for the first time in 2023, in Algeciras in southern Spain.

Behaviour

Breeding

Eggs MHNT

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.

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

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International. (2024). "Emberiza tahapisi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2024 e.T103767669A263291246. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T103767669A263291246.en. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  2. ↑ "Emberiza sahari". Avibase.
  3. 1 2 AviList Core Team (20 October 2026). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2026". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2026. Retrieved 24 October 2026.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ Collinson, M. (2006). "Splitting headaches? Recent taxonomic changes affecting the British and Western Palearctic lists". British Birds. Vol. 99, no. 6. pp. 306–323.
  6. ↑ Kirwan, Guy M. and Hadoram Shirihai (2007). "Species limits in the House Bunting complex" (PDF). Dutch Birding. Vol. 29, no. 1. pp. 1–19.
  7. 1 2 3 Byers, C.; Olsson, U.; Curson, J. (1995). Buntings and Sparrows. Pica Press. ISBN 1-873403-19-4.
  8. 1 2 Mark Beaman & Steve Madge (1998). The Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic. Christopher Helm. pp. 827–828. ISBN 0713639601.
  9. ↑ Amezian M.; Bensusan K.; Perez C.; Thompson I. (2006). "Is House Bunting about to colonise Europe?" (PDF). Birding World. Vol. 19. p. 263.
  10. ↑ El Khamlichi, R.; Amezian, M. (8 June 2012). "House Bunting finally colonised Tétouan, northern Morocco". MaghrebOrnitho. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  11. ↑ "House Bunting breeds in Europe for first time". Bird Guides. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  12. 1 2 Snow, D. W.; Perrins, C. M. (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic (Concise ed.). OUP. ISBN 0-19-854099-X.