Cirl Bunting

The Cirl Bunting is a close relative of the Yellowhammer, found in warmer, drier farmland habitats across southern and western Europe. In Britain it survives only in a small, closely monitored population in Devon, having declined severely elsewhere through the twentieth century.

Appearance

Breeding males have a distinctive black-and-yellow striped face pattern, with a black crown stripe, black eye stripe, and black throat set against a bright yellow face, and an olive-grey breast band above a chestnut-tinged flank. Females and immatures are much duller and streakier, closely resembling female Yellowhammers, though typically greyer-toned with a more subtly patterned face.

Key Field Marks

• Male: black crown stripe, black eye stripe, black throat, yellow face and underparts, olive-grey breast band, chestnut wash on flanks
• Female: streaky, greyish-olive overall, subtly striped face, greyer rump than Yellowhammer
• Grey-brown, unstreaked or lightly streaked rump (unlike Yellowhammer's chestnut rump)

Similar Species

The main confusion species is the Yellowhammer. Male Yellowhammers lack the black throat and have a cleaner yellow head with a chestnut (not grey-olive) rump; female Cirl Buntings are best separated from female Yellowhammers by their greyer, less rufous rump and subtly different face pattern, though care and good views are often needed.

Habitat

Cirl Buntings favor warm, sheltered farmland with a mix of tall, thick hedgerows for nesting and song perches, weedy stubble fields or set-aside for winter seed food, and rough, insect-rich grassland for feeding chicks in summer — a specific combination that has made the species vulnerable to agricultural intensification.

Range and Migration

The species is largely resident, found across southern and western Europe from Iberia and France through Italy and the Balkans, with an outlying, historically much-reduced population in southern England. It does not undertake long migrations, and even in Britain the population remains within a small geographic area.

Behavior

Cirl Buntings are often unobtrusive, feeding on the ground or low in hedgerows and singing from prominent perches such as treetops or wires within their territory.

Voice

The song is a fast, dry, rattling trill on a single pitch — shorter, faster, and more mechanical-sounding than the Yellowhammer's song, and lacking the drawn-out final note.

Nesting and Breeding

Nests are built low in dense hedges or scrub, a cup of grass and moss lined with fine roots and hair. The female lays 3-4 eggs with dark scrawled markings and incubates them for about 11-13 days; pairs typically raise two broods, timing the second to coincide with peak grasshopper abundance for feeding chicks.