Emberiza calandra
A stocky, streaky farmland bunting known for its jangling, key-like song from fence posts and wires.
Size: 18 cm | Habitat: Farmland & Countryside Birds | Season: All year
Plain, streaky brown, and noticeably larger and dumpier than a sparrow, the corn bunting is a farmland specialist that sings its distinctive jangling-keys song from prominent perches. Once common, it has suffered one of the steepest declines of any British farmland bird.
Large, stocky, streaky brown bunting · no obvious head pattern · sings from wires, fence posts, and hedge tops · often dangles its legs in flight
Corn buntings favour open arable farmland, nesting on the ground in cereal crops and feeding on seeds and insects. Males are often polygamous, holding territories with several females.
The corn bunting's song is often likened to the jangling of a bunch of keys — a useful way to pick it out even before you spot the plain, unassuming bird singing it.
Corn bunting numbers collapsed through the second half of the twentieth century as arable farming intensified, with autumn-sown cereals, earlier harvests, and the loss of weedy field margins all squeezing the seed and insect food the species depends on to raise young. It has now sat on the Red List continuously since 1996, longer than almost any other farmland bird, and while the steepest declines have stabilised in recent years, there is little sign of genuine recovery.
Its scientific name, Emberiza calandra, and its unassuming, sparrow-like appearance belie an unusual breeding system: male corn buntings are frequently polygamous, holding large territories that can encompass the nests of several females at once — a rarity among British songbirds, most of which are strictly monogamous for the season.
🔴 Conservation status: Red (UK Birds of Conservation Concern 5)
Red-listed since 1996, reflecting a severe long-term decline driven by the intensification of arable farming across lowland Britain.
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