Pine Bunting
Emberiza leucocephalos
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyEmberizidae (Old World Buntings)
- GenusEmberiza (Old World Buntings)
- SpeciesEmberiza leucocephalos (Pine Bunting)
About the Pine Bunting
The pine bunting (Emberiza leucocephalos) is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group most modern authors now separate from the finches, Fringillidae. It lives in Eurosiberia east of the Urals. The genus name Emberiza is from Old German Embritz, a bunting. The specific leucocephalos is from Ancient Greek leukos, "whites", and kephalos, "headed".
The pine bunting is a robust 16–17.5-centimetre bird, with a thick seed-eater's bill. The male has a white crown and cheeks, and a chestnut forehead and throat, and a heavily streaked brown back. The female is much duller and is more streaked on its undersides. Non-breeding plumage is like that of a yellowhammer, but with all the yellow replaced by white. Its song and calls are like those of the yellowhammer.
The pine bunting breeds across much of temperate Asia, migrating south to central Asia, north India and southern China in winter. It is common in all sorts of open land with some scrub or trees, including cultivation, but has a greater preference for open forest (usually pines) than the closely related yellowhammer. It is a rare vagrant to western... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Camargue
Corn Bunting
Emberiza calandra
Reed Bunting
Emberiza schoeniclus
Ortolan Bunting
Emberiza hortulana
Yellowhammer
Emberiza citrinella
Cirl Bunting
Emberiza cirlus
Cetti's Warbler
Cettia cetti
Sardinian Warbler
Curruca melanocephala
Barn Swallow
Hirundo rustica
Crested Lark
Galerida cristata
Zitting Cisticola
Cisticola juncidis
Western Yellow Wagtail
Motacilla flava
European Starling
Sturnus vulgaris
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 3 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia |
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Pine Bunting in Camargue?
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pine Bunting sighting in Camargue, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Pine Bunting in Camargue?
January has the highest sighting rate for Pine Bunting in Camargue in our monthly data.