Ortolan Bunting

The ortolan bunting is a Eurasian bird of the bunting family, 16–17 cm long with a wingspan of 23–29 cm, much resembling its relative the yellowhammer in appearance and habits but lacking that species' bright colouring; the head, for instance, is greenish-grey instead of bright yellow, and the male's song resembles the yellowhammer's. In India it was spotted at Kenjar, coastal Karnataka, in November 2018 and photographed by birdwatchers, some of whom commented that it was the first photographic record of an ortolan bunting in India (Wikipedia, general species account).

Ortolan nests are placed on or near the ground, and seeds are the natural diet, with beetles and other insects taken when feeding young. The species has been eaten in French cuisine, traditionally cooked and eaten whole, and was so widely eaten that its French populations had dropped dangerously low by the 1990s. SoIB 2023 lists it as a bird of uncertain migratory status in non-specialised habitat that eats invertebrates, without a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).