Identification of first-winter Pallas's Reed Bunting

A first-winter female Pallas's Reed Bunting Emberiza pallasi on Fair Isle, Shetland, on 17th September 1981, was tentatively identified in the field. Examination of skins and a literature search were necessary, however, to determine the features diagnostic of this species in first-winter plumage. The Fair Isle bird was reported as a small, odd-looking bunting by TB, who had just been watching Reed

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