BeakBrain
Menu
Bird GuideDaily BirdCamsTripsCommunityGet the app

Cirl Bunting

Emberiza cirlus

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernSeedsShrublandCup nestSmall · 26 g
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus), photo 1
Photo: Hugo Caillon · CC BY 4.0
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus), photo 2
Photo: Hugo Caillon · CC BY 4.0
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus), photo 3
Photo: Julien Fougeroux · CC BY 4.0
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus), photo 4
Photo: Karim Haddad · CC BY 4.0
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus), photo 5
Photo: michael_martinez64 · CC0
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus), photo 6
Photo: Cenaida · CC BY 4.0
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus), photo 7
Photo: Will Taylor · CC BY 4.0
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus), photo 8
Photo: Nico Hernandez · CC BY 4.0
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus), photo 9
Photo: Nico Hernandez · CC BY 4.0
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus), photo 10
Photo: Vasco Henrique Oliveira Fonseca · CC BY 4.0

What the Cirl Bunting sounds like

Sonogram of the Cirl Bunting: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Alarm call · Cabane Vauban (Carolles), Manche, Normandie, France · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Cirl Bunting: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Flight call · Cabane Vauban (Carolles), Manche, Normandie, France · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Cirl Bunting: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Andreas Trepte · Song · North Athens Regional Unit, Attica, Decentralized Administration of Attica, Greece · CC0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The cirl bunting is like a small yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella), and is around 15.5 cm (6.1 in) in length with a wing-span 22–25.5 cm (8.7–10.0 in). It has a thick seed-eater's bill. The male has a bright yellow head, with a black crown, eyestripe and throat, and a greenish breast band across its otherwise yellow underparts, and a heavily streaked brown back. The female is much more like the yellowhammer, but has a streaked grey-brown rump and chestnut shoulders. The monotonous song of the male is a rattling trill, like the Arctic warbler or the terminal rattle of the lesser whitethroat.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Cirl Bunting

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Cirl Bunting

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 30 countries with regular records, and 5 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

France Spain Portugal Greece Türkiye Italy United Kingdom Germany Bulgaria Croatia Morocco Serbia New Zealand Switzerland Slovenia North Macedonia Albania Montenegro Sweden Algeria Bosnia & Herzegovina Austria Jersey Andorra Tunisia Kosovo Romania Luxembourg Denmark Hungary

Recorded as a rare visitor in Belgium, Netherlands, Guernsey, San Marino, Liechtenstein.

About the Cirl Bunting

The cirl bunting is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia) Rock BuntingEmberiza ciaThis bird is 16 cm in length. Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana) Ortolan BuntingEmberiza hortulanaThe 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). Golden-breasted Bunting (Emberiza flaviventris) Golden-breasted BuntingEmberiza flaviventrisThe golden-breasted bunting is 15–16 cm long.

Side by side: Cirl Bunting vs Yellowhammer · Cirl Bunting vs Common Reed Bunting · Cirl Bunting vs Corn Bunting · Cirl Bunting vs Rock Bunting · Cirl Bunting vs Ortolan Bunting · Cirl Bunting vs Golden-breasted Bunting

Learn the Cirl Bunting in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Every photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.