Grey-headed bunting (scientific name: Emberiza spodocephala): A small songbird. Weight 14-26 g, body length 125-161 mm. Male adult birds (spring feathers): grey-black basal, eye-front, cheek, and chin spots; greenish-gray and slightly yellowish spots on the head, around the neck, and thorax; upper back, shoulders, olive green, slightly stained reddish brown, broad black stripes on the center of the feathers, light olive brown on the lower back, waist, and tail cover; dark brown tail feathers, yellowish brown feathers on the central tail feathers, greenish brown for the rest of the tail feathers, white wedge-like spots on the inside of the second pair of tail feathers on the outside, and a pair of tail feathers on the outermost side are almost completely white, with only a diagonal black spot on the inside, and brown spots on the outer end of the tail feathers Small coverts are reddish brown, medium and large coverts are black brown, sandy brown in appearance, lightly feathered with cowhide white at the ends of the feathers; large coverts and inner secondary flight feathers are brownish black with reddish outer feather margins; small wing feathers and primary coverts are brown; flying feathers are dark brown, the outer margins are light ruffy brown; the thorax is light sulfur yellow, turning yellow to the perianal and subtail coverts; the thorax and the two flanks are light brown with black-brown stripes; the axillary feathers are yellowish; the underwing coverts are yellowish white and the base of the feathers is dark. Male adult birds (autumn feathers): the head and neck are more distinctly olive-green, the top and neck feathers have some black-brown tips, other body feathers are similar to spring feathers, and the black spots on the foreeck and thorax are not obvious. Female (spring feathers): the first eye, the eye area and the unclear eyebrow stripes are yellowish; the cheek stripes extend to the side of the neck; the ear feathers are brown with yellow axial stripes; the head color is browner than the male and the cheeks and chin are not black; the throat and lower body are pale sulfur yellow, and the throat and upper chest are slightly dipped in olive green; the cheek lines formed by dark black spots are quite obvious; the body sides and two flanks are brown with black stripes; the lower abdomen and tail coverts are yellowish white; and the other parts are the same as the male but lighter. Female (autumn feathers): brownish brown head with black stripes; pale brown on the upper body, with thick black axial stripes, especially the dorsal and shoulder feathers; the throat is pale olive yellow , the thorax is browner , often dark spots ; the lower body is white , the thorax and armpits are yellowish ; the rest is similar to spring feathers. The iris is brown; the mouth is tanned, the lower mouth is light in color except for the apex; the feet are white.
China is found in Ningxia (Jingyuan, Zhongwei, Yinchuan), Gansu (northwest), Sichuan (Guanxian, Wasan), Hubei, Yunnan (northwest, south), Guizhou, Jiangsu, Guangxi, Guangdong, Taiwan, Qinghai (Huangshui River Valley).
In Changbai Mountain, the family group was seen in early June, and in August, a large mixed group was formed, and it gradually moved south. Before migrating, they often fly into the sky and then fall back into place. Migration ends around the end of October. Often in small groups of activities, in addition to the breeding period into the outside, there are also individual activities, sex is not suspicious, easy to make people approach often fly away when very close. Make a short "chip" sound when frightened. During the breeding season, the male has a call similar to that of the three-browed bunting, but has fewer syllables, mostly 4-5 syllables, and is not loud. Omnivorous, feeding on weed seeds, plant fruits, and various cereals in early spring and late autumn, and pecking at the larvae and other insects of Lepidoptera in large numbers during the summer breeding season.
The breeding season is from May to July. In early to mid-May, many flocks migrated from the south to northeast China, with some continuing northward and some remaining in the mountains to breed. During the breeding season, they are active in pairs, usually do not move much in the trees, do not jump around actively like birds in general, but often flutter their tail feathers, constantly showing white parts. Nests are nested in north and northeast China in late May and early June, nests are built on the ground or branches that are not high off the ground in dwarf bushes, and rarely between branches higher above the ground, the nest is cup-shaped, made of hay stems, leaves, and fine roots, and the structure is tight, with thin layers of horsehair, fine roots, grass stems, etc. Oval, milky, pale green, or light blue, with reddish-brown spots, brownish-purple spots, or black stripes, with thinner tip spots and denser blunt ends. Nests are nested only by female birds, which last 4-5 days; two clutches are laid each year, with each clutch laying 4-6 eggs. Both sexes co-brood. Feed the chicks for 15 hours a day, even in the light rain. The chicks stay in the nest for 12-13 days.