Black-headed Bunting
Emberiza melanocephala
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Old World Buntings (Emberizidae)
- Order
- Passeriformes
Overview
The black-headed bunting (Emberiza melanocephala) is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae. It breeds in south-east Europe east to Iran and migrates in winter mainly to India, with some individuals moving further into south-east Asia. Like others in its family, it is found in open grassland habitats where they fly in flocks in search of grains and seed. Adult males are well marked with yellow underparts, chestnut back and a black head.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Breeds south-central Eurasia; winters to India.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Countries
- Albania
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lebanon
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Poland
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Syria
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- Uzbekistan
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Black-headed bunting
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
