Yellow-breasted Bunting

The Yellow-breasted Bunting (Emberiza aureola) is a small migratory passerine that breeds across northern Eurasia and winters in South and Southeast Asia. Within the Central Asian Flyway (CAF), it breeds in northern Kazakhstan, western Russia, and Mongolia, migrating south to winter in the northern Indian subcontinent and adjoining regions. The species inhabits wet meadows, shrublands, riparian vegetation, and marsh edges during the breeding season, and agricultural fields, grasslands, reedbeds, and rice fields in winter. It feeds primarily on insects during breeding and shifts to seeds and other plant material during migration and winter. Globally classified as Critically Endangered, the species has suffered one of the most rapid declines of any passerine due to large-scale trapping for consumption, habitat loss, and agricultural intensification across its migration and wintering range. In parts of East and Southeast Asia, the Yellow-breasted Bunting was traditionally harvested as a seasonal delicacy ("rice bird"), a practice that contributed significantly to its population decline.