About Emberiza flaviventris Stephens, 1815
The golden-breasted bunting, Emberiza flaviventris Stephens, 1815, measures 15–16 cm in length. Adult males have a striking head pattern: a white crown, black lateral crown stripes, a white supercilium, and black-bordered white ear coverts. Their underparts are orange-yellow, shifting to yellow on the throat and whitish on the lower belly. Upperparts are chestnut with a grey rump, and browner wings bear two conspicuous white wing bars. The sexes are very similar in appearance. However, females may have a buff tone to their white head markings, browner head stripes, and dark streaks on the back. Young birds are duller and paler than females. The subspecies E. f. princeps resembles the nominate subspecies, but it is larger and paler on the underparts. E. f. flavigaster is more distinct: it has a paler, redder back, a pale grey rump, paler yellow underparts, and whiter flanks. This species occurs in a variety of open woodland habitats. The subspecies flavigaster favors acacia steppe and savannah, while all other subspecies live in a wider range of lightly wooded areas, including gardens.
