Biology:Emberiza

The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus Emberiza, the only genus in the family Emberizidae. The family contains 44 species. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills that inhabit open and half-open habitats, including deserts, stony drylands, shrubland, savanna, and open taiga forests.

Taxonomy

The family Emberizidae was formerly much larger and included the species now placed in the Passerellidae (New World sparrows) and Calcariidae (longspurs and snow buntings). Molecular phylogenetic studies found that the large family consisted of distinct clades that were better treated as separate families.

The genus Emberiza is now the only genus placed in the family Emberizidae. The genus was introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The type species was subsequently designated as the yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella). The genus name Emberiza is from Old German Embritz, a bunting. The origin of the English "bunting" is unknown. Species in the New World genus Passerina include the word "bunting" in their common names, but are now classed in the family Cardinalidae.

A 2008 genetic study found that three emberizid species that were placed in their own monotypic genera clustered within the Emberiza. These were the crested bunting (Melophus lathami), the slaty bunting (Latouchiornis siemsseni), and the corn bunting (Miliaria calandra). All three species are now included in the genus Emberiza.

A large DNA-based study of the passerines published in 2019 found that the buntings are most closely related to the longspurs and snow buntings in the family Calcariidae.

Ornithologists Edward Dickinson and Leslie Christidis in the fourth edition of the Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World chose to split up Emberiza and recognise the genera Fringillaria, Melophus, Granativora, Emberiza, and Schoeniclus. Their example has not been followed by the online version of the Handbook of the Birds of the World nor by Frank Gill and David Donsker in the list of world birds that they maintain on behalf of the International Ornithologists' Union. The British Ornithologists' Union has argued that splitting the genus provides little benefit and destabilizes the nomenclature.

A comprehensive 2021 genetic study that incorporated DNA samples of all but two Emberiza species found that the genus' ancestor came from the New World, from where it colonised eastern Asia via the Bering Strait during the late Miocene. From there, the genus then radiated into four clades. This radiation was linked to a global cooling event that led to a reduction of forest cover and the expansion of open habitats, including grasslands, to which the Emberiza buntings adapted. Clade I is primarily African and includes mostly resident species such as the golden-breasted bunting, the Cape bunting, and the house bunting. The next clade to diverge — Clade II — is strongly migratory, and adapted to open taiga forests. This clade includes the yellow-breasted and the little bunting, but also the common reed bunting and Pallas's reed bunting, which breed near standing water. Clade III is the smallest, comprising three species, and is found in arid regions of South Asia; it includes the crested bunting, the red-headed bunting and the black-headed bunting. Clade IV comprises sedentary, partially migratory and strongly migratory species, most of which are adapted to drylands and shrublands. Examples include the yellowhammer, the corn bunting, the meadow bunting, and the ortolan bunting.

The cladogram below is based on a study published in 2021. The phylogenetic relationships of two African species, the brown-rumped bunting (Emberiza affinis) and Vincent's bunting (Emberiza vincenti), were not determined.

Emberizidae

Clade I     Cabanis's bunting – Emberiza cabanisi       Golden-breasted bunting – Emberiza flaviventris     Somali bunting – Emberiza poliopleura           Cape bunting – Emberiza capensis       Lark-like bunting – Emberiza impetuani       Socotra bunting – Emberiza socotrana         Gosling's bunting – Emberiza goslingi     Cinnamon-breasted bunting – Emberiza tahapisi         House bunting – Emberiza sahari     Striolated bunting – Emberiza striolata                 Clade II     Yellow-throated bunting – Emberiza elegans     Slaty bunting – Emberiza siemsseni           Ochre-rumped bunting – Emberiza yessoensis       Pallas's reed bunting – Emberiza pallasi     Common reed bunting – Emberiza schoeniclus             Yellow-browed bunting – Emberiza chrysophrys       Tristram's bunting – Emberiza tristrami     Grey bunting – Emberiza variabilis             Yellow-breasted bunting – Emberiza aureola     Chestnut bunting – Emberiza rutila           Little bunting – Emberiza pusilla     Rustic bunting – Emberiza rustica         Black-faced bunting – Emberiza spodocephala     Yellow bunting – Emberiza sulphurata                 Clade III   Crested bunting – Emberiza lathami       Red-headed bunting – Emberiza bruniceps     Black-headed bunting – Emberiza melanocephala       Clade IV   Corn bunting – Emberiza calandra       Chestnut-eared bunting – Emberiza fucata       Tibetan bunting – Emberiza koslowi         Jankowski's bunting – Emberiza jankowskii       Meadow bunting – Emberiza cioides       Rock bunting – Emberiza cia     Godlewski's bunting – Emberiza godlewskii               Grey-necked bunting – Emberiza buchanani       Cinereous bunting – Emberiza cineracea       Cretzschmar's bunting – Emberiza caesia     Ortolan bunting – Emberiza hortulana             Cirl bunting – Emberiza cirlus       White-capped bunting – Emberiza stewarti       Yellowhammer – Emberiza citrinella     Pine bunting – Emberiza leucocephalos

List of species

The genus contains 44 species.

Image	Common name	Scientific name	Distribution
120px	Crested bunting	Emberiza lathami	Southeast Asia.
	Slaty bunting	Emberiza siemsseni	China.
120px	Corn bunting	Emberiza calandra	Western Europe and North Africa across to northwestern China.
120px	Yellowhammer	Emberiza citrinella	southeast England and most of Europe east to the northwestern corner of Russia and western Ukraine.
120px	Pine bunting	Emberiza leucocephalos	Asia
120px	Rock bunting	Emberiza cia	northwest Africa, southern Europe east to central Asia, and the Himalayas
120px	Godlewski's bunting	Emberiza godlewskii	China, Pakistan, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Russia.
120px	Meadow bunting	Emberiza cioides	southern Siberia, northern and eastern China, eastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Korea and Japan.
120px	White-capped bunting	Emberiza stewarti	Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
	Jankowski's bunting	Emberiza jankowskii	Russian Far East, Manchuria and far northeastern Korea
120px	Grey-necked bunting	Emberiza buchanani	Caspian Sea to the Altai Mountains in Central Asia
120px	Cinereous bunting	Emberiza cineracea	southern Turkey and southern Iran
120px	Ortolan bunting	Emberiza hortulana	European countries and western Asia
120px	Cretzschmar's bunting	Emberiza caesia	Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and the Levant.
120px	Cirl bunting	Emberiza cirlus	southern Europe, on the Mediterranean islands and in north Africa
120px	Striolated bunting	Emberiza striolata	Chad, east through south-west Asia to north-western India, Africa
120px	House bunting	Emberiza sahari	northwestern Africa from Morocco south to Mali and east to Chad.
120px	Lark-like bunting	Emberiza impetuani	Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
120px	Cinnamon-breasted bunting	Emberiza tahapisi	mainland sub-Saharan Africa
120px	Gosling's bunting	Emberiza goslingi	Mauritania and Senegal to south-western Sudan and north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
	Socotra bunting	Emberiza socotrana	Yemen
120px	Cape bunting	Emberiza capensis	southern Africa from south-western Angola, eastern Zambia, Zimbabwe and southern Tanzania to the Cape.
120px	Tristram's bunting	Emberiza tristrami	eastern Manchuria and the Russian Far East and winters in central and southern China.
120px	Chestnut-eared bunting	Emberiza fucata	the Himalayas locally across China to south-eastern Siberia, Korea and northern Japan
120px	Little bunting	Emberiza pusilla	north-east of Europe and northern Eurosiberia to the Russian Far East and northern India, southern China and the northern parts of south-east Asia.
120px	Yellow-browed bunting	Emberiza chrysophrys	eastern Siberia, China
120px	Rustic bunting	Emberiza rustica	south-east Asia, Japan, Korea, and eastern China.
120px	Yellow-throated bunting	Emberiza elegans	China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Russia, and Taiwan.
120px	Yellow-breasted bunting	Emberiza aureola	Finland to Bering Sea migrating to Indochina
120px	Somali bunting	Emberiza poliopleura	Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda
120px	Golden-breasted bunting	Emberiza flaviventris	Africa south of the Sahara
120px	Brown-rumped bunting	Emberiza affinis	Senegal to Sudan and Uganda
120px	Cabanis's bunting	Emberiza cabanisi	sub-Saharan Africa
120px	Chestnut bunting	Emberiza rutila	Siberia, northern Mongolia and north-eastern China.
	Tibetan bunting	Emberiza koslowi	Tibet
120px	Black-headed bunting	Emberiza melanocephala	Japan, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos, South Korea and Malaysia
120px	Red-headed bunting	Emberiza bruniceps	Asia-Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia; Russian Federation (European Russia, Central Asian Russia), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
120px	Yellow bunting	Emberiza sulphurata	Japan
120px	Black-faced bunting	Emberiza spodocephala	southern Siberia across to northern China.
120px	Masked bunting	Emberiza personata	Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, and Japan.
120px	Grey bunting	Emberiza variabilis	Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Kuril Islands and northern Japan
120px	Pallas's reed bunting	Emberiza pallasi	northeast European Russia, north Kamchatka
120px	Ochre-rumped bunting	Emberiza yessoensis	eastern Mongolia, northeast China and Ussuriland
120px	Common reed bunting	Emberiza schoeniclus	Europe

Extinct species have been described:

• † Long-legged bunting (Emberiza alcoveri) (Late Quaternary)
• † Emberiza shaamarica (Late Pliocene of Central Asia)
• † Emberiza polgardiensis (Upper Miocene of Hungary)
• † Emberiza media (Pliocene of Hungary)
• † Emberiza parva (Pliocene of Hungary)
• †Emberiza gaspariskii (Pliocene of Hungary)
• †Emberiza bartoki (Middle Miocene of Hungary) (Nomen dubium)

Emberiza pannonica from the upper Miocene of Hungary is also referred to this genus, but was later found to be a member of Muscicapidae.

Further reading

Buntings and Sparrows – A Guide to the Buntings and North American Sparrows by Urban Olsson and Jon Curson, illustrated by Clive Byers (1995) ISBN 1-873403-19-4

External links

• Bunting videos, photos and sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
•  "Bunting". The American Cyclopædia. 1879. 

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