New breeding sites found for Asia's rarest bunting

Discovery prompts optimism over Rufous-backed bunting’s survival

December 2013: Three previously unknown breeding sites of Asia’s rarest bunting have been discovered by a team from the Beijing Bird Watching Society working with BirdLife’s China Programme.

The Rufous-backed bunting (Emberiza jankowskii), also known as Jankowski’s bunting, has declined drastically because of conversion of its habitat to farmland, and it is now known only from a restricted area in north-east China.

“These discoveries are very encouraging. When new sites are found we must work with the local government and landowners to protect them,” said Vivian Fu, Assistant Manager of the China Programme.”

In April and May this year, breeding buntings were found at six sites, including three new ones, in the Xing’an League of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. At least 70 birds were identified, mostly singing males. At one previously known site near the Ke’erqin (Horqin) National Nature Reserve, the population had doubled to 41 birds since 2011 after the area was fenced to prevent livestock trampling in the breeding season.

Continued