Description:

Fairly large bunting with rather long bill, lacking white in outer tail. Male has black on head and chestnut on mantle. Female almost identical to Red-headed, rufous fringes to mantle and/or back and more uniform yellowish underparts. Immature with buff underparts and yellow undertail-coverts.

Distribution:

Scarce passage migrant through the central and western areas, mainly in Ghizer, Hunza, Diamer and Gilgit. Prefers open areas with dispersed trees, shrubs and hedges, up to 2900m. Common in orchards, fields with thorny scrub and slopes of mountains.

Behavior:

Normally forages on the ground or in bushes or low in trees. Occurs singly and in pairs when breeding. During breeding season mostly invertebrates, also seeds and other plant material. Invertebrates in diet include larval mayflies, crickets, earwigs, cicadas, ants and beetles.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Black-headed Bunting in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Black-headed Bunting

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.