Bunting

The bunting family

“Bunting” is a common name shared by species in two separate families:

• Old World buntings (Emberizidae) — Eurasia and Africa; include yellowhammer, reed bunting, corn bunting, ortolan
• New World buntings (Cardinalidae) — Americas; include indigo bunting, painted bunting, lazuli bunting — these are more closely related to cardinals than to Old World buntings

The most spectacular colours

New World buntings are among the most vividly coloured birds on Earth:

• Indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea) — male is uniformly electric blue; found across eastern North America
• Painted bunting (Passerina ciris) — male has a red breast, green back, and indigo-blue head; described as the most colourful North American bird
• Lazuli bunting (Passerina amoena) — western North America; turquoise with orange breast

The colours are produced by structural colour (light interference in feather microstructures), not pigment — in different lighting they can appear dull or metallic.

Yellowhammer (the most familiar UK bunting)

Emberiza citrinella — the yellowhammer, the entry species for European buntings — is a farmland bird that has declined 57% in the UK since the 1970s due to changes in agricultural practice. The male’s bright yellow head and breast are striking; its “little bit of bread and no cheese” song is one of the most characteristic sounds of British summer farmland.