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Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus) German name(s): "Zaunammer" Size: 15-16 cm; wing span: 22-25 cm Body mass: 20-29 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.20-0.25

Europe: Family Group 24 Family Group 24 Table White Wagtail Western Yellow Wagtail Grey Wagtail Tawny Pipit Berthelot's Pipit Red-throated Pipit Tree Pipit Meadow Pipit Water Pipit Eurasian Rock Pipit Greater Short-toed Lark Calandra Lark Woodlark Eurasian Skylark Bearded Reedling House Sparrow Tree Sparrow Spanish Sparrow Rock Sparrow Trumpeter Finch European Serin Atlantic Canary Red-fronted Serin Eurasian Siskin Common Redpoll Arctic Redpoll Twite Common Linnet Brambling Common Chaffinch European Goldfinch Eurasian Bullfinch Hawfinch Common Crossbill Common Rosefinch Yellowhammer Cirl Bunting Common Reed Bunting Little Bunting Ortolan Bunting Black-headed Bunting Corn Bunting Rock Bunting House Bunting Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Cirl Buntings are medium-sized buntings. Their plumage is highly cryptic, and dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. During the breeding season, male Cirl Buntings have a prominently coloured and patterned head, with a small, streaked olive-grey crest, black eye stripes and throat patch and two yellow stripes above and below the eyes. The black chin patch is fringed by a thin yellow band across the upper breast, the rest of which is brownish-grey, with brownish flanks. The rest of the front is yellow, apart from brown streaks down the sides. The back and wings are highly cryptic, with dark-grey feathers with lighter (grey and or brown) edges. The tail is dark-grey. Female Cirl Buntings have much more inconspicuous colours. Although, except for the head, the underlying colours are similar to those of males, they tend to be duller and females show much more streaking down the front than males. Where males have the black throat patch, females have a grey-streaked throat with a third yellow bar each down the sides of the throat/neck. They do not have a yellow band across the upper chest; instead, both front and sids are heavily streaked dark-grey. The entire back resembles that of a male. Male Cirl Buntings in eclipse have a dark-grey, lightly streaked chin patch and the yellow stripes on the sides of the head, in particular the ones below the eyes, become much less prominent. They do not have an erectile crest in winter either. Both sexes have brown irises, a light-grey bill and pinkish-grey legs and feet. First-winter males resemble females, but with yellowish edges on the primary flight feathers.

Taxonomy, classification See Cirl Bunting at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Cirl Bunting is available HERE . Cirl Buntings are a mostly sedentary species that is found primarily around the Mediterranean Sea, in southern Europe, north-western Africa and the coastal fringe and the western inland parts of Asia Minor. In Europe Cirl Buntings are found in Iberia (where, in the southern half, they are only winter visitors), southern to western France and south-western England (as summer breeders also in central to south-eastern France), Italy (as winter visitors in the Po river plains), along the eastern coastline of the Adriatic Sea, in Greece and further to the Danube delta. They are also found on the Mediterranean islands. Cirl Buntings have a preference for rather open country with scattered (especially thorny) shrubs for nesting, such as e.g. the edges of woodland or of fields or pasture. They are usually found on the southern, sunny slopes of hills.

Sightings Click here for sighting information J. Pires reports spotting Cirl Buntings semi-regularly in the area from Mora, Evora, Portugal, to Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal. D. Wilczynska reports spotting Cirl Buntings near Cala Gonone, eastern Sardinia, Italy, in June 2016. A Cirl Bunting was caught, ringed and photographed by S. Cuturilov in Ovcarsko-Kablarski Canyon, near Cacak, Serbia, in October 2017. Others were found by A. Sarok in Vojvodina, Serbia, in the timeframe 2010-2024. H. Dahlem-Senger reports finding Cirl Buntings on the outskirts of Eltville, Hessen, Germany, in the timeframe March-May 2021. This location, on the eastern side of the river Rhine, is at the north-eastern boundary of the species' breeding range. G. Normand found a Cirl Bunting at La Roche-Guyon, Ile-de-France, France, in July 2021.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

BREEDING

Pair of Cirl Buntings collecting nesting material; male in breeding plumage on the left, female on the right
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

NON-BREEDING

Pair of Cirl Buntings; male in non-breeding plumage at upper left (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2025]

MALE

BREEDING

Frontal view of a male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[South of Belgrade, Serbia, date unknown]

Frontal view of a male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

Near-frontal view of a male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2019]

Near-lateral view of a male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

Lateral view of a male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

Lateral view of a male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[South of Belgrade, Serbia, date unknown]

Lateral/ventral view of a male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Acude do Monte da Barca, Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, June 2022]

Lateral/ventral view of a male Cirl Bunting in worn breeding plumage (photo courtesy of G. Normand)
[La Roche-Guyon, Ile-de-France, France, July 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2016]

Distant near-dorsal view of a male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Eltville, Hessen, Germany, May 2021]

NON-BREEDING

Partly obscured frontal view of a male Cirl Bunting in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Near Eltville, Hessen, Germany, March 2021]

Lateral view of a male Cirl Bunting moulting into breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2017]

Lateral view of a male Cirl Bunting in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, October 2017]

Lateral view of a male Cirl Bunting in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, December 2018]

FEMALE

Near-frontal view of a female Cirl Bunting still wet after taking a bath (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Divor river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2022]

Near-lateral view of a female Cirl Bunting (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Albufeira dos Minutos, Montemor o Novo, Evora, Portugal, February 2020]

Near-lateral view of a female Cirl Bunting (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

Near-lateral view of a female Cirl Bunting (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2018]

Lateral view of a female Cirl Bunting looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Cabecao, Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2025]

Lateral view of a female Cirl Bunting (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Divor river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2022]

Lateral view of a female Cirl Bunting still wet after taking a bath (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Divor river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a female Cirl Bunting (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, February 2023]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral/ventral view of juvenile(?) Cirl Bunting (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2022]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Mostly sedentary

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Frontal view of a male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage taking a bath (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Albufeira dos Minutos, Montemor o Novo, Evora, Portugal, February 2020]

Lateral view of a male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage taking a bath (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Albufeira dos Minutos, Montemor o Novo, Evora, Portugal, February 2020]

Food, Diet

This male Cirl Bunting in breeding plumage has found something edible (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

Lateral view of a female Cirl Bunting that has found a seed (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, February 2023]

Lateral view of a male Cirl Bunting having a drink (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Divor river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2022]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

cirlbnt_jp_20200625.m4a	(Portugal)	Contact call	© JP
cirlbnt_jp_20251101.m4a	(Portugal)	Contact calls	© JP
cirlbnt_jp_20220605.mp3	(Portugal)	Contact calls	© JP
cirlbnt_jp_20201026.m4a	(Portugal)	Contact calls	© JP
cirlbnt_jp_20220209.mp3	(Portugal)	Contact calls	© JP

More Cirl Bunting sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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