圃鹀种

烤圃鹀在法国被视为珍馐，在朗德省的习俗中品尝烤圃鹀更是家家户户一年一度的传统。然而欧盟在1979年宣布此种鸟为保育类，而法国政府则在1999年跟进，从此食用圃鹀的传统在该国已几乎消逝殆尽，但仍有黑市交易存在，一只圃鹀的价格可高达150至200欧元。

The ortolan (Emberiza hortulana), also called ortolan bunting, is a Eurasian bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a passerine family now separated by most modern scholars from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name Emberiza is from Alemannic German Embritz, a bunting. The specific name hortulana is from the Italian name for this bird, ortolana. The English ortolan is derived from Middle French hortolan, "gardener".

The ortolan is served in French cuisine, typically cooked and eaten whole. Traditionally, diners cover their heads with their napkin or a towel while eating the delicacy. The ortolan was so widely eaten that its French populations had dropped dangerously low by the 1990s. French laws protecting the bird, and an EU-wide prohibition against killing or capturing it, have had little effect on the ortolan's numbers.

Taxonomy

The ortolan bunting was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae and retains its original binomial name of Emberiza hortulana. The species is monotypic. A molecular phylogenetic study of the buntings published in 2008 found that the ortolan bunting is most closely related to Cretzschmar's bunting (Emberiza caesia).

Description

The ortolan bunting is 16–17 centimetres (6+1⁄4–6+3⁄4 inches) in length and has a wing-span of 23–29 cm (9–11+1⁄2 in). In appearance and habits it much resembles its relative the yellowhammer, but lacks the bright colouring of that species; the ortolan's head, for instance, is greenish-grey, instead of a bright yellow. The song of the male ortolan resembles that of the yellowhammer.

Distribution and habitat

A native of most European countries and West Asia, it reaches as far north as Scandinavia and beyond the Arctic Circle, frequenting cornfields and their neighbourhoods. It is an uncommon vagrant in spring, and particularly autumn, to the British Isles. Sightings in the UK are less common than they were, owing to the species' population decline due to overexploitation in France.

It was spotted at Kenjar Coastal Karnataka, India, in November 2018 and photographed by birdwatchers. Some birders commented that it is the first photographic record of an ortolan bunting in India.

Behaviour

Ortolan nests are placed on or near the ground.

The maximum age recorded is six years and ten months for a bird found dead in Switzerland.

Seeds are the natural diet, but beetles and other insects are taken when feeding their young.

Culinary use

The birds are caught with nets set during their autumn migratory flight to Africa. They are then kept in covered cages or boxes, where they are force-fed grain, usually millet seed. Once they have doubled in bulk, they are suspended upside down over a container of Armagnac, and by dipping, are drowned before being marinated in the brandy.

The birds are then plucked, salted and peppered and cooked in their own fat for seven minutes. Many consumers place the bird feet first into their mouth while holding onto the bird's head, eating the ortolan whole, with or without the head. Some spit out the larger bones, while others eat the whole bird head, bones and all. The traditional way French gourmands eat ortolans is to cover their heads and face with a large napkin or towel while consuming the bird. The purpose of the towel is debated.

Legal status

Ortolan hunting was banned in France in 1999, but the law was poorly enforced and it is thought that up to 50,000 ortolans were illegally killed each year during the autumn migration: mostly birds from breeding grounds in Finland and the Baltic area. According to France's League for the Protection of Birds, France's ortolan population fell 30% between 1997 and 2007. In 2007, the French government vowed to strictly enforce some existing rules about banning the practice, with the maximum fine set at €6,000. Killing and cooking ortolans is banned across the European Union. In 2007, the pressure from France's League for Protection of Birds and from the EU resulted in the French government promising to enforce the EU directive protecting the ortolan. After several years of active citizen watch revealing little if any change in the field situation, the local representative of the government repeated this statement in 2016.

• EU member states prohibit:
• deliberate killing or capture of these birds by any method;