Ortolan Bunting
Photo: Pierre Dalous · CC BY-SA 3.0

Old World Buntings

Ortolan Bunting

Emberiza hortulana

LCLeast Concern
Family
Old World Buntings (Emberizidae)
Order
Passeriformes

Overview

The ortolan (Emberiza hortulana), also called ortolan bunting, is a Eurasian bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a passerine family now separated by most modern scholars from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name Emberiza is from Alemannic German Embritz, a bunting. The specific name hortulana is from the Italian name for this bird, ortolana. The English ortolan is derived from Middle French hortolan, "gardener".

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Breeds Western Palearctic; winters Mediterranean environs, Arabia, and Africa.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.