European birds    Bird names   News   Family groups 1-26    Glossary    Plumage    Tips    Thumbnails    Gen. info    Credits    Photos for sale   
NON-PASSERINES     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10     11     12     13     14 15     16     17     18     19     20     21     22     23     24     25     26     PASSERINES
Common names sorted alphabetically: A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   V   W   Y  

24

Cirl Bunting

(Emberiza cirlus)
German name(s): "Zaunammer"
Size: 15-16.5 cm; wing span 22-22.5 cm
Weight: ca. 26 g

Similar
species

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

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Cirl Bunting at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

ADULT

MALE

BREEDING

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 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)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

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]

PAIR

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

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

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

Behaviour

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_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.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site?
If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.