Since 2004, it has been gradually upgraded to a status of Critically Endangered due to rapid drops in population sizes.

Emberiza aureola ornata breeds from the Amur River to Manchuria, N Korea, Kamchatka and Kuril Islands.

The species winters in large flocks in cultivated areas, rice fields and grasslands, preferring to roost in rice-fields.

[1] In the first third of 2023, roosts of up to 6,378 birds were found in reedbeds at Kyon Ka Pyin-Tap Seik Conservation Area, in the Irrawaddy Delta, Myanmar, exceeding previous known maxima for the species in southern Asia.

Even though the actions have been restricted to a small area in southern China, it has become more widespread and popular to increasing wealth, and hunters now travel long distances to find sufficient birds.