What does a tiger-headed phoenix look like (detailed introduction)

The tiger-headed phoenix is also called the yellow-throated bunting, and its scientific name is Emberiza elegans. It is also known as Huangduban, Heiyuezi, Huangmeizi, Huangfengzi, Chunnuan, and Tanchun. It is a medium-sized bird of the genus Bunting, with a body length of about 15 cm. The male and female individuals have the same shape and different colors, but both males and females have a bunch of feathers raised high on their heads to form a crest. This is something that many other birds of the genus Bunting do not have, and it is also an identifying feature of this species.

The forehead, crest, occiput, cheeks and throat of the male of this species are all black. The eyebrow lines are divided into three sections. At first, a small section of eyebrow lines is pure white, and then suddenly turns to bright yellow. The eyebrow lines continue to the back of the head, forming a yellow strip around the back of the head. The third eyebrow line is white and curves downward; the jaw is yellow, the upper throat is pure white, and the lower throat is black; the shoulders and back The waist and upper tail coverts are maroon, with black vertical stripes on the upper back and white feather tips; the tail feathers are black, the two central tail feathers are grayish, and the outer armor of the two outer tail feathers is white. This is also true for all birds of the genus Bunting. Characteristics common to all species; the upper wing coverts are the same color as the back, the middle coverts are white, the large coverts are brown, the feather tips are white, and the flight feathers are brown; the lower body is yellow-white from the throat down, and the upper chest and flanks are thick. maroon vertical spots.

The female's crest is not as obvious as the male's. The black area on the male's head and face is less distinctive brown in the female. The yellow eyebrow lines and jaw are not as bright as the male's. The female's lower throat does not have a black scarf. The rest is basically the same as the male. The iris is chestnut brown; the upper beak is almost black and the lower beak is light; the legs are light grayish brown.

The yellow-throated bunting is found in China from the northeast to the south to the eastern coast of Guangdong. Its northeastern subspecies is distributed along the western line from Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Hunan, Jiangxi to eastern Guangdong. The southwest subspecies is found in the Sichuan Basin and Yunnan-Guizhou. A vast area centered on the plateau, its distribution area can reach northern Myanmar in winter, and its northern limit in summer can reach Shaanxi. The named subspecies is found in central Taiwan, Liuqiu Islands and other places.

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