A new bird species, the Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica), has been recorded in Belarus, the public association "Aхова птушак Бацькаўшчыны" (APB) informed BELTA.
A new bird species, the Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica), has been recorded in Belarus, the public association "Aхова птушак Бацькаўшчыны" (APB) informed BELTA.
Ornithologists spotted this bird in the Verkhnedvinsk district of the Vitebsk region, in the floodplain of the Svolna River. It may become the 333rd species on the Belarusian ornithofauna list. "It is possible that the Rustic Bunting has been in Belarus before. In the 1990s, this bird nested very close to the Belarusian border, but it was not seen here," noted ornithologist Denis Kitel.
The Rustic Bunting is a taiga species, widespread in a broad belt from Northern Europe across northern Eastern Europe and Siberia to Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands. Since the end of the 19th century, the species has been expanding westward into Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, and Norway. During seasonal migrations, the bird flies into many European countries.