Pluk is the second commonest call type of migrant Ortolan Buntings during the day. Curiously, we have never recorded it at night. Pluk calls are low-pitched with a sharply ascending contour, the fundamental typically rising from 2 to 3.5 kHz in just 16 ms. This is the only Ortolan call likely to be doubled or trebled rapidly, and it is usually the first call we hear after flushing an Ortolan (they also pluk during longer flights). Pluk is one of the least variable calls, although occasionally we have recorded calls intermediate between plik and pluk. Listen to a typical example of pluk calls given just after taking off. Below it is a sonagram and corresponding sound file showing six variations of pluk calls recorded by day.

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g. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana, IJmuiden, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, 17 September 2003 (Magnus Robb).Plukcalls shortly after taking off, with threeplikcalls.

h. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana. Six variations of pluk calls recorded by day.1) IJmuiden, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, 17 September 2003 (Magnus Robb) 2) Sagres, Vila do Bispo, Portugal, 08:24, 17 September 2008 (Magnus Robb) 3) Cabo Espichel, Setúbal, Portugal, 09:24, 11 October 2010 (Magnus Robb) 4) Chokpak, South Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, 2 May 2000 (Magnus Robb) 5) Soguksu, Kızılcahamam, Turkey, 8 May 2001 (Magnus Robb) 6) Dadia, Evros, Greece, 2 May 2002 (Magnus Robb)

Of interest, the corresponding calls given by Ortolan Bunting’s closer relatives – species that give similar medleys of calls – are subtly different. These species are much rarer than Ortolan in a western European perspective. Here are low-pitched take-off calls of several from this group, plus the equivalent call of Yellowhammer E citrinella.

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i. Cretszchmar’s Bunting Emberiza caesia, Wadi Dana, Jordan, 30 April 2004 (Magnus Robb). Various calls of a male, starting with the equivalent of Ortolan Bunting’s pluk.

j. Grey-headed Bunting Emberiza buchanani, ‘Van Hills’, Van, Turkey, 2 June 2002 (Magnus Robb). Calls when taking off, equivalent to Ortolan Bunting’s pluk.

k. Cinereous Bunting Emberiza cineracea semenowi, Nemrut Dag, Adiyaman, Turkey, 29 May 2002 (Magnus Robb). Low-pitched calls in flight, equivalent to Ortolan Bunting’s pluk.

l. Black-headed Bunting Emberiza melanocephala, Akseki, Antalya, Turkey, 11 May 2001 (Magnus Robb). Low-pitched calls in flight, equivalent to Ortolan Bunting’s pluk.

m. Red-headed Bunting Emberiza bruniceps, Chokpak, South Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, 2 May 2000 (Magnus Robb). Low-pitched calls in flight, equivalent to Ortolan Bunting’s pluk.

n. Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella, IJmuiden, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, 6 November 2003 (Magnus Robb). Calls when flushed.

Tew is a common call-type used by migrant Ortolan Buntings both night and day. It is highly variable, and future studies may show that it can be divided into further types. What all tew calls have in common, however, is that they descend rapidly in pitch over a wide frequency range, more steeply at the start than at the end. A good feature to look for in sonagrams, when present, is one or more obvious kinks somewhere along the line where the slope changes. These help to distinguish Ortolan’s tew from similar calls of several other species. To the human ear tew always sounds monosyllabic. Similar calls that are audibly disyllabic are best classified as tslew. Listen to an example of a tew call recorded from a passing spring migrant, seen and heard by many observers. Below it is a sonagram and corresponding sound file showing six variations of tew calls recorded by day.

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o. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana, Breskens, Zeeland, Netherlands, 08:02, 13 May 2007 (Magnus Robb).Tew and tsrp calls of one passing a ‘migration station’ by day.

p. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana. Six variations oftewcalls recorded during the day. 1) Breskens, Zeeland, Netherlands, 08:02, 13 May 2007 (Magnus Robb) 2) Chokpak, South Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, 2 May 2000 (Magnus Robb)3) Vedi, Ararat, Armenia, 15:37, 14 May 2011 (Magnus Robb) 4)&5) Soguksu, Kızılcahamam, Turkey, 8 May 2001 (Magnus Robb) 6) Cabriz, Sintra, Portugal, 06:44, 1 October 2011 (Magnus Robb)

At night there were tew calls in 45/141 recordings. When they occur they are often repeated in sequences. This example from Poole Old Town has four tew calls. Below it is a sonagram and corresponding sound file showing six variations of tew calls recorded by night.

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q. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana, Poole Old Town, Dorset, England, 03:08, 25 August 2016 (Paul Morton). Threetewcalls of a passing nocturnal migrant.

r. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana. Six variations of tew calls recorded during the night. 1) Poole Old Town, Dorset, England, 03:08, 25 August 2016 (Paul Morton) 2) Cabriz, Sintra, Portugal, 03:02, 26 September 2011 (Magnus Robb) 3) Poole Old Town, Dorset, England, 02:00, 24 August 2016 (Paul Morton) 4) Portland Bill, Dorset, England, 23:29, 25 August 2016 (Nick Hopper) 5) Cabo Espichel, Setúbal, Portugal, 01:06, 3 October 2015 (Magnus Robb) 6) Sagres, Vila do Bispo, Portugal, 22:42, 14 September 2011 (Magnus Robb)

The most likely confusion species for this call-type include ‘yellow wagtails’ (eg, Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla flava), Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus and Common Reed Bunting. We have recorded all of these as nocturnal migrants.

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s. Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla flava, Vila Real de Santo António, Algarve, Portugal, 08:31, 5 September 2009 (Magnus Robb). A small flock migrating. Some of the lower-pitched flight calls towards the end of the recording sound fairly similar to tew calls of Ortolan Bunting. Most flight calls of yellow wagtails are clearly higher-pitched, however, and descend most steeply towards the end of the call, whereas Ortolan shows the steepest descent at the start. Also, any ‘steps’ or ‘kinks’ tend to be in the upper half in yellow wagtails, but in the middle or lower half in Ortolan.

t. Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus, IJmuiden, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, 28 September 2002 (Magnus Robb).Tewcalls of an autumn migrant. These were recorded by day, but by night there can be a very real danger of misidentification. Although Lapland’s rattle or Ortolan Bunting’splikor other call types immediately solve the identification, when we only heartew,identification can be really challenging. Listen for a slightly higher pitch in Ortolan, and in sonagrams, look for the ‘kink’ that is often present in Ortolan, but lacking in Lapland.

u. Common Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus, Nore og Uvdal, Trolltjörnstölan, Buskerud, Norway, 06:44, 5 July 2001 (Arnoud B van den Berg).Psieuw calls of a male. These are actually quite different from Ortolan, being both higher-pitched and having a much longer duration. Arguably, they are more likely to cause confusion with the disyllabic tslew call.

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