Golden-breasted Bunting (Emberiza flaviventris)

Cover image of Golden-breasted Bunting by Ansie Dee Reis – Dikhololo Resort, North West

Buntings belong to the Family: EMBERIZIDAE. The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus Emberiza, which is the only genus in the family. The family contains 44 species. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills, comparatively long tails, and short legs. The feet are relatively large for scratching on the ground.

Identification

The Golden-breasted Bunting is a small, colourful species with slight differences in plumage coloration between the sexes.

In adult males the forehead, lores, face, crown, nape and neck are black, with a white median crown stripe, a broad white supercilium and a shorter white moustachial stripe below the eye. There is a pale collar on the hind neck and the mantleand back are pinkish brown to chestnut, with blackish brown centres and pinkish-brown borders. The folded wings show two white wing bars. The rump is grey and the upper tail coverts are buffy grey while the tail is grey-brown, with white outer tail feathers. On the undersides, the chin is pale yellowish-orange and the throat is rich yellow. The breast is golden orange, fading to rich yellow on the belly. The flanks are pale greyish olive or occasionally white. The thighs are rich yellow and the under tail coverts are white. The bill is two-toned with a blackish upper mandible and a pale greyish-pink lower mandible. Eyes dark brown. The legs and feet are dull greyish-pink and the eyes are dark brown.

Females are similar to males, but their black head markings are suffused with brown. They are duller overall, including the chestnut back and wings. Juveniles resemble females but are duller with brown streaks on the breast.

In southern Africa, the Golden-breasted Bunting is only likely to be mistaken for Cabanis’s Bunting (Emberiza cabanisi). The latter lacks the white stripe below the eye and has white (not yellowish) sides to the throat. The back is greyish (not rufous) with black streaks and the breast is plain yellow (not golden-orange).

Status and Distribution

The Golden-breasted Bunting is a fairly common resident and local nomad. It is found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa but is absent from much of West Africa. The Golden-breasted Bunting is widespread in southern Africa except for southern and western Namibia, the south-western Kalahari, the semiarid and arid Karoo, and Western Cape fynbos.

The Golden-breasted Bunting has been able to colonise alien plantations in previously treeless grasslands. There is no evidence that the overall distribution has changed much in the recent past. The Golden-breasted Bunting is not threatened and remains a common and widespread species across its range.

Habitat

The Golden-breasted Bunting prefers open broadleaved woodlands as well as mixed woodlands and Savanna. It also inhabits dry woodlands along rivers, tall shrubland on stony or rocky ground, exotic plantations, farmyards, the edges of croplands, and gardens. It is less common in pure Vachellia/Senegalia (Acacia) woodlands. The Golden-breasted Bunting avoids tall, dense riverine woodland.

Behaviour

The Golden-breasted Bunting is unobtrusive, but not particularly shy. They are normally encountered singly, in pairs, or family groups during the breeding season. They are generally found in pairs or small flocks of up to 20 birds in the non-breeding season. The Golden-breasted Bunting is mostly resident but may become locally nomadic during the dry season when they may also form mixed species flocks with other buntings and canaries.

Golden-breasted Buntings forage on the ground (usually on bare patches) and in the canopies of shrubs and small trees. They are drawn to freshly burnt areas to take advantage of dead or injured insects and other food items. They walk with small steps but sometimes also hop. The flight is somewhat undulating.

The diet consists of flower buds, seeds, and insects, including small grasshoppers, beetles, termites, and ants. Occasionally takes grass seeds directly from seed heads on low-growing tufts. They have also been seen to peck at salt licks put out for cattle. Golden-breasted Buntings drink and bathe regularly.

The Golden-breasted Bunting is a monogamous, solitary nester and is not known to be territorial. Courtship displays involve the male singing from conspicuous perches and in bouncing ‘butterfly flight’ while singing. Males will also courtship-feed the female prior to copulation.

The nest is a fairly deep, loosely built cup of grass, pliable plant stems, tendrils, and leaf petioles. Lined with fine rootlets and hair. All nest construction is done by the female, but she is accompanied by the male on trips to gather material. The nest is typically placed 0.5 to 2.0 m above the ground on a horizontal fork in a bush or tree.

Nesting data all comes from October to May, with a November/December peak over most of the range. 2 to 5 (usually 2-3) eggs are laid per clutch. The eggs are either white, pale cream, pale greenish blue or pale bluish white, decorated with black, brown and grey spots and scrolled lines.

The incubation period takes up to 13 days and all incubation is performed by the female only. Newly hatched young have orange skin. The nestling period lasts for 16 to 17 days and the young are cared for by both adults. The nestlings are fed by both parents on regurgitated insects and some seeds. Fledglings out of the nest are recorded to be fed with small grasshoppers.

Golden-breasted Bunting broods are sometimes parasitised by Diederik Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius).

Further Resources

Species text in the first Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP1), 1997.

The use of photographs by Ansie Dee Reis, Colin Summersgill, Derek Solomon, Gregg Darling, John Wilkinson, Jorrie Jordaan, Neels Putter, Philip Nieuwoudt, John Todd, Terry Terblanche, and Tino Herselman is acknowledged.

Virtual Museum (BirdPix > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name).

Other common names: Rooirugstreepkoppie (Afrikaans); umNdweza (Zulu); Intsasa (Xhosa); Mavotiyo (Tswana); Gelbbauchammer (German); Bruant à poitrine dorée (French); Goudborstgors, Acacia-gors (Dutch); Escrevedeira-de-peito-dourado (Portuguese).

List of bird species in this format is available here.

Recommended citation format: Tippett RM 2024. Golden-breasted Bunting Emberiza flaviventris. Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2024/12/10/golden-breasted-bunting-emberiza-flaviventris/

Bird identification, birding