Yellow-breasted Bunting

 A major reason that why I am so keen on trying to spread awareness on endangered creatures is that various factors which lead to the critical condition of birds and animals, do not even spare the most innocent creations of nature. The bird I will be talking about today is a migratory species, that is an example of how destruction of greenery and poaching has caused this once common bird to become so rare. Let me bring forth the cries of the Yellow-breasted Bunting.

The Yellow-breasted Bunting is a passerine songbird that is known to breed in the Taiga, or Boreal forests of Eurasia, forests which include Coniferous trees and shrubs and experience long winters and short summers. They migrate to South and Southeast Asia during the Winter. In India, they are found mostly in the North-east region during this period.
The male birds are characterized by their black face, chestnut-brown back and bright yellow underparts with black streaks. The females are much dull comparatively, with streaky brown and yellowish feathers and and a dark crown and cheek stripes, on a whitish face. They are usually 14-16 cm long. Their diet consists mostly of insects and seeds which they obtain by scratching the ground or picking them from plants. Some of their behaviour is quite interesting to observe; They tend to breed in open scrubby areas like rice fields, when males make a sweet yet loud whistling sound to attract females. They also tend to migrate in large flocks.

However, these beauties have faced and are continuing to face various challenges. Their conservation status is already that of "Endangered", with their population decreasing. Between 1980 and 2013, their population declined by 84.3% to 94.7%, leaving their approximate number of individuals as fewer than 10,00,000 mature individuals worldwide. In Europe, where they were once so common, they are now seldom spotted and are quite rare. This is because they are facing threats like habitat loss and large-scale poaching in China, mainly for human consumption.
This is why awareness should be spread, not just through media, television and articles, but also through social media platforms, that are widely accessed, so people can get to know of the critical conditions faced by many creatures on Earth.


Yellow-breasted Bunting. Illustrated by: True Indian 


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