Three call-types more rarely heard from migrants

Puw is only occasionally used by Ortolan Buntings during migration, both by day and by night. However, a very similar call is common during the breeding season in situations where the nest or brood is under threat. This is a very low-pitched whistle reminiscent of a bullfinch Pyrrhula. In our recordings of migrants, the call usually descends from around 3 to 2.5 kHz and has a mean total duration of 64 mS (n=7 individuals). Listen to an example of puw calls used by a migrant during the day. Below it is a sonagram and corresponding sound file showing three variations of puw calls recorded by day.

  • 00:00

  • 00:00

hh. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana, Sagres, Vila do Bispo, Portugal, 08:21, 17 September 2008 (Magnus Robb). A medley of calls, starting with puw, from a migrant in flight during the day.

ii. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana. Three variations of puw calls recorded during the day. 1) Sagres, Vila do Bispo, Portugal, 08:21, 17 September 2008 (Magnus Robb) 2) Madzharovo, eastern Rhodopi mountains, Bulgaria 09:58, 3 June 2009 (Arnoud B van den Berg) 3) Planalto de Mourela, Montalegre, Portugal, 10:35, 22 May 2015 (Magnus Robb)

At night there were puw calls in only 4 out of our 141 recordings of passing Ortolan Buntings, and we have not yet recorded this call type in Dorset. Listen to an example of puw calls in a rich nocturnal medley of other call-types recorded in Portugal. Below it is a sonagram and corresponding sound file showing three variations of puw calls recorded by night.

  • 00:00

  • 00:00

jj. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana, Cabriz, Sintra, Portugal, 05:49, 18 September 2015 (Magnus Robb). Medley of puw and tslew calls of a nocturnal migrant.

kk. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana. Three variations ofpuwcalls recorded during the night. 1) Cabriz, Sintra, Portugal, 05:49, 18 September 2015 (Magnus Robb) 2) Cabriz, Sintra, Portugal, 04:13, 13 September 2013 (Magnus Robb) 3) Cabriz, Sintra, Portugal, 03:26, 3 September 2016 (Magnus Robb)

Puw calls in isolation could be mistaken for a Eurasian Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula, although we have yet to hear a bullfinch migrating at night.

  • 00:00

ll. Eurasian Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula, Durlston, Dorset, England, 10:47, 6 October 2008 (Magnus Robb). Calls of a male just before taking off. Bullfinch calls are much longer than puw calls of Ortolan Bunting, so when comparing recordings directly it is easy to tell them apart.

Tup is another call only rarely used by Ortolan Buntings during migration, both day and night. This is a low-pitched, rapidly descending whistle strongly reminiscent of the flight call of a Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs. In our recordings, it descends from around 3.5 to 2.7 kHz, within a mean total duration of 47 mS (n=8 individuals). Perhaps puw and tup are merely longer and shorter versions of the same call. A larger sample of both may confirm or deny this possibility. Listen to an example recorded during the day. Below it is a sonagram and corresponding sound file showing three variations of tup calls recorded by day.

  • 00:00

  • 00:00

mm. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana, Sagres, Vila do Bispo, Portugal, 08:26, 17 September 2008 (Magnus Robb). A rich medley of calls including tup, from a migrant passing during the day.

nn. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana. Three variations of tup calls recorded during the day. 1) & 2) Sagres, Vila do Bispo, Portugal, 08:26 & 08:24, 17 September 2008 (Magnus Robb) 3) Madzharovo, eastern Rhodopi mountains, Bulgaria 09:58, 3 June 2009 (Arnoud B van den Berg)

At night there were tup calls in just 4 out of 141 recordings of migrating Ortolan Buntings. The bird in the following recording would probably have been mistaken for an early migrating Common Chaffinch had it not given some other Ortolan call types as part of its flight call medley.

  • 00:00

  • 00:00

oo. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana, Cabriz, Sintra, Portugal, 00:26, 9 September 2015 (Magnus Robb).Tup and tslew calls of a nocturnal migrant.

pp. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana. Three variations of tup calls recorded during the night.1) Cabriz, Sintra, Portugal, 00:26, 9 September 2015 (Magnus Robb) 2) Odeceixe, Aljezur, Portugal, 01:31, 31 August 2016 (Magnus Robb) 3) Cabriz, Sintra, Portugal, 02:19, 19 September 2016 (Magnus Robb)


  • 00:00

qq. Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs De Nolle, Zeeland, Netherlands, 11:30, 8 November 2011 (Magnus Robb). Flight calls of a bird passing on migration flight.

Vin is a strange little nasal call that we have recorded twice from migrants during the day, and twice at night. We have also recorded an identical call on the breeding grounds. This is a short, low-pitched, uninflected call with strong harmonics that give it a nasal timbre. Listen to an example from the breeding season, followed by one of a diurnal migrant.

  • 00:00

  • 00:00

rr. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana, Planalto de Mourela, Montalegre, Portugal, 10:35, 22 May 2015 (Magnus Robb).Vin call and another rapidly rising call given by an Ortolan that approached the recordist. It may have had a nest close by.

ss. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana, Sagres, Vila do Bispo, Portugal, 08:21, 17 September 2008 (Magnus Robb). A medley of calls, starting with vin, from a migrant in flight during the day.

Both times when we recorded vin at night, the caller was distant. In this example, the clearest call also coincides with a distant dog’s bark. Compare the calls in the sonagrams below, where the nocturnal example is the third in the row, following diurnal examples from each of the two recordings above.

  • 00:00

  • 00:00

tt. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana, Cabriz, Sintra, Portugal, 00:26, 9 September 2015 (Magnus Robb). A medley of calls from a nocturnal migrant, starting with a vin call.

uu. Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana. Two diurnal and one possible nocturnal vin call. 1) Planalto de Mourela, Montalegre, Portugal, 10:35, 22 May 2015. (Magnus Robb) 2) Sagres, Vila do Bispo, Portugal, 08:21, 17 September 2008 (Magnus Robb) 3) Cabriz, Sintra, Portugal, 00:26, 9 September 2015 (Magnus Robb)

If anything, vin resembles a very short version of the ‘trumpet’ call given by some Northern Bullfinches P p pyrrhula, but other call types given as part of the Ortolan Bunting’s medley should soon put any such ideas to rest.

  • 00:00

vv. Northern Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula pyrrhula, De Nolle, Zeeland, Netherlands, 10:50, 8 November 2005 (Magnus Robb). ‘Trumpet’ calls of a female migrating with Brambling Fringilla montifringilla. Vin calls of Ortolan are much shorter.

Read more about this research

We have a full blog available on how this research was conducted. Read more below, or go back to explore the previous pages.

Previous pageBlog