Females abound in strait

(Agencies/Photo by Edgar at ephotozine.com) A recent issue of the Fundación Migres magazine, Revista de Ecología, says that 62% of the Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) captured and released for a study of migratory birds in the Strait of Gibraltar, were female. The conclusions were drawn after analysis of studies carried out in the autumns and winters of 2007 and 2008, when some 492 were ringed as the birds flew South on their annual migration. They come here from all over Europe, and  previously identified birds from Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium and France, for example, were located during the study period. The article says that the proportion of Reed Buntings can be as high of four females for every male.