Gunther Zieger

Long distance migrant, granivorous passerine, breeding across the Palearctic from Iberia to western Mongolia, with no subspecific variations but numerous geographic song dialects across the range. Winters in Sahelian bushy savannas of sub-Saharan Africa, patchily from Senegambia to Ethiopia (Grémion et al. 2021).

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		7220000-11300000,8940000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Ortolan Bunting

Three main migration flyways connecting breeding populations to three know wintering regions. Migration divide from the Balkans to Belarus, separating populations using the western versus eastern flyways. Low ringing effort in central and eastern Europe, preventing informing precisely the central flyway. The Russian breeding populations migrate by the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula to reach the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands. Fennoscandian, Polish and western European populations use the western flyway, wintering between northern Guinea and southern Mauritania (Selstam et al. 2015; Jiguet et al. 2019).

Recoveries by Condition for Ortolan Bunting

Poaching of ortolan buntings in western Mediterranean countries (France, Italy, Spain) provided most of ring recoveries of harvested buntings before the 2000s. Poaching stopped in 2018 in France, and conditions of recoveries largely heterogeneous along time periods. Most live recovery from actively migrating individuals along the flyways. Large ringing effort on last Norwegian population provided most of the recoveries along the western flyway.  Recent migration connectivity unravelled by light loggers (Selstam et al. 2015; Jiguet et al. 2019).

Annual Movements for Ortolan Bunting

Spring migration starts during the last decade of March / first decade of April. In the North, birds mostly resighted on breeding grounds in May, in active migration in April. In the South-West, breeders are back on territories second half of April. No ringing data to inform the movements of birds using the eastern flyway, but light loggers data indicate a return to breeding sites mainly during the first decade of May in European Russia (Jiguet et al. 2019). In autumn, departures from breeding grounds mainly during the second half of August in the North and the East. Arrivals on wintering grounds mainly during the first decade of October. Hence nearly 6 months spent on wintering grounds.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Ortolan Bunting

Pattern known mainly from the western flyway, though tracking data suggest similar phenology along the eastern flyway. Along the western flyway, autumn migration starts mid-August and peaks during second decades of September in France. Desert crossing (Sahara, Arabia) occurs mid-April in spring, second half of September in autumn (Jiguet et al. 2019).

Frédéric Jiguet

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Grémion J, Marcacci G, Mazenauer J, Sori T, Kebede F, Ewnetu M, Christe P, Arlettaz R, Jacot A2021 . Habitat preferences of the Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana) in its prime wintering grounds, the cereal-dominated Ethiopian Highlands. Ibis 164 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12992) : 74–87
Jiguet F, Burgess M, Thorup K, Conway G, Arroyo Matos JL, Barber L, Black J, Burton N, Castelló J, Clewley G, Copete JL, Czajkowski MA, Dale S, Davis T, Dombrovski V, Drew M, Elts J, Gilson V, Grzegorczyk E, Henderson I, Holdsworth M, Husbands R, et al.2019 . Desert crossing strategies of migrant songbirds vary between and within species. Scientific Reports 9 article no.: 20248 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56677-4)
Jiguet F, Robert A, Lorrillière R, Hobson KA, Kardynal KJ, Arlettaz R, Bairlein F, Belik V, Bernardy P, Copete JL, Czajkowski MA, Dale S, Dombrovski V, Ducros D, Efrat R, Elts J, Ferrand Y, Marja R, Minkevicius S, Olsson P, Pérez M, Piha M et al.2019 . Unravelling migration connectivity reveals unsustainable hunting of the declining ortolan bunting. Science Advances article no.: eaau2642 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau2642)
Selstam G, Sondell J, Olsson P2015 . Wintering area and migration routes for Ortolan Buntings from Sweden determined with light-geologgers. Ornis Svecica 25: 3–14

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