Family:
The little bunting is a small, compact bunting with a short, thin tail, and a sharply pointed bill which is slightly concave on the upper ridge. Its warm brown back is heavily streaked and it has white underparts with fine dark streaking.
The head has a reddish wash on the lores and ear coverts, dark crown stripes, a white malar stripe, prominent white eye-rings, and a pale spot in the rear of the ear coverts. It does not flick its tail in the same way as a reed bunting and its high-pitched call is distinctive. Both male and female are similar.
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Little buntings eat mainly seeds but will supplement their diet with insects, particularly when feeding chicks.
Little buntings have a large range. They breed from far north-east Europe to the far east of Russia in coniferous woodland. It winters in northern India, southern China, northern south-east Asia where it is typically found on farmland.
