House Bunting breeds in Europe for the first time

First breeding record of the House Bunting (Emberiza sahari) in Spain and Europe.

By: Antonio Jesús Sepúlveda & Julio Ortega (Tumbabuey).

The appearance of the House Bunting as an African vagrant in the Iberian Peninsula dates back to a decade and a half ago, with a first record in 2009 in the town of Tarifa. Subsequently, there have been several observations of the species, distributed among the municipalities of Algeciras and Tarifa in the province of Cádiz. There have been also three records in the province of Málaga in Nerja, Frigiliana and Fuengirola and one in Gibraltar.

Since the beginning of the 21^st century, there has been a continuous and steady expansive movement of the species to the north of the African continent. In the area of the Strait of Gibraltar, the species first colonized Tangier (Amezian et al. 2006), then Tétouan and the nearby town of M’diq before reaching the autonomous city of Ceuta. Even further east from the Strait, in Algeria, the species has expanded its range northwards to reach the Mediterranean coast in 2017 (Moulaï 2019).

On 22 June 2023, in the urban centres of Algeciras, an adult male was located singing repeatedly and exhibiting highly pronounced territorial behaviour. Its presence and territorial behaviour persisted in the area over the following days.

Approximately a week later, another adult male and a female-type were found, making it the first time that three individuals have been recorded together on the European shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. During the next few weeks, the birds continued their presence in the area, manifestly attached to the site, and the breeding behaviour is becoming noticeable.

On 8 September, the local ornithologist Antonio Jesús Sepúlveda observed a juvenile claiming food and subsequently being fed by one of the adult birds. Three days later, we confirmed the presence of a second juvenile, definitively confirming the successful breeding of the species in the area.

The authors of this publication will continue to closely monitor this breeding event, in order to obtain more information about this recent colonization.

Predicted expansion of the Species in the Iberian Peninsula

The House Bunting’s colonization of Tangier was documented 17 years ago (Amezian et al. 2006). That was the first documented breeding population of the species anywhere in northernmost Morocco and the Strait of Gibraltar area. In the title of that short note, the authors made what appears to be the first prediction of the species’ expansion of Europe. In the subsequent years, the species steadily expanded to nearby cities in the African coast of the Strait.

In a recent article, López-Ramírez et al. (2023) found that the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula currently offers favourable conditions for the House Bunting. Furthermore, future climate projections suggest an even greater favourability of the region (see map below).

If the current climate warming is not dealt with urgently, for the good of the planet and our own species, it’s not inconceivable to see the House Bunting rapidly expanding across Iberia and beyond.

References:

• Amezian, M, Bensusan, K., Perez, C. & Thompson, I. 2006. Is House Bunting about to colonise Europe? Birding World 19: 263.

• López-Ramírez, S., Chamorro, D., Real, R., & Muñoz, A.-R. 2023. Southern Europe is becoming climatically favourable for African birds: Anticipating the establishment of a new species. Frontiers in Zoology 20(1): 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-023-00496-x

• Moulaï, R. 2019. Expansion du Bruant du Sahara Emberiza sahari dans le nord de l’Algérie. Alauda 87: 258-259.