Wintering Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus in Lubuskie voivodeship, Poland

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In Poland, wintering Reed Buntings Emberiza schoeniclus have been recorded in all provinces, and are considered common in the west of the country . It is believed that the main Reed bunting wintering habitats in Western Europe (including Poland) are weedy f ields and stubble, less often other habitats . In national faunal monographs, wintering Reed buntings are recorded in a variety of habitats, among which are listed: agricultural landscapes (fields, stubble fields, fallow land), river valleys, various water bodies (lakes, f ish ponds), rubbish-damps, orchards, bogs . The aim of the study is to characterize winter observations of Reed Buntings in Lubuskie Voivodeship, in the context of hab itats and size of bird concentrations . The paper uses 146 observations of Reed Buntings collected in Lubuskie Voivodeship during spontaneous ornithological observations carried out in 1996-2024 . A total of 654 individuals of Reed Buntings were recorded in 146 inspections . Most observations came from January (51 .4%), followed by December (35 .6%), and the least from February (13 .0%) . Reed Bunting observation sites were assigned to five habitat types (wasteland (weedy), grassland, ditch/trash, stubble fields and reeds) . The most common habitat was wasteland (weedy), with a total of 47 .3% . In this habitat, the Reed Buntings were observed most often in every winter month . T he size of the concentration of wintering Reed Buntings ranged from 1 to 50 individ uals (mean 4 .48, SD = 8 .49, N = 146) . Single birds were recorded most often – a total of 48 .6% of all observations . Groups of 2 to 10 individuals accounted for 41 .8%, and f locks of more than 10 birds accounted for 9 .6% of all observations . The environments in which wintering Reed Buntings were most often observed in Lubuskie Voivodeship and the abundance of bird groupings are similar to other regions of the country.