Emberiza
Genus of birds
title: "Emberiza" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bird-common-names", "emberiza", "finches", "animal-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus", "non-human-celestial-navigation"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "general/bird-common-names" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emberiza" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of birds ::
| image = Goldammer Emberiza citrinella.jpg | image_caption = Male Emberiza citrinella | parent_authority = Vigors, 1831 | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Emberiza | authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 44, see text | synonyms = *Onychospina Bonaparte, 1853
- Onychospiza Rey, 1872 (incorrect subsequent spelling) |type_species =Emberiza citrinella
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.
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 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.
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.
Species in the New World genus Passerina include the word "bunting" in their common names, but are now classed in the family Cardinalidae.
The family is divided into four major clades. The species in Clade I are mainly African while those in Clades II to IV are Palearctic:
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.
|label1=Emberizidae |1={{clade |label1=Clade I |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Cabanis's bunting – Emberiza cabanisi |2={{clade |1=Golden-breasted bunting – Emberiza flaviventris |2=Somali bunting – Emberiza poliopleura |2={{clade |1=Cape bunting – Emberiza capensis |2={{clade |1=Lark-like bunting – Emberiza impetuani |2={{clade |1=Socotra bunting – Emberiza socotrana |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Gosling's bunting – Emberiza goslingi |2=Cinnamon-breasted bunting – Emberiza tahapisi |2={{clade |1=House bunting – Emberiza sahari |2=Striolated bunting – Emberiza striolata |2={{clade |label1=Clade II |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Yellow-throated bunting – Emberiza elegans |2=Slaty bunting – Emberiza siemsseni |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Ochre-rumped bunting – Emberiza yessoensis |2={{clade |1=Pallas's reed bunting – Emberiza pallasi |2=Common reed bunting – Emberiza schoeniclus |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Yellow-browed bunting – Emberiza chrysophrys |2={{clade |1=Tristram's bunting – Emberiza tristrami |2=Grey bunting – Emberiza variabilis |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Yellow-breasted bunting – Emberiza aureola |2=Chestnut bunting – Emberiza rutila |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Little bunting – Emberiza pusilla |2=Rustic bunting – Emberiza rustica |2={{clade |1=Black-faced bunting – Emberiza spodocephala |2=Yellow bunting – Emberiza sulphurata |2={{clade |label1=Clade III |1={{clade |1=Crested bunting – Emberiza lathami |2={{clade |1=Red-headed bunting – Emberiza bruniceps |2=Black-headed bunting – Emberiza melanocephala |label2=Clade IV |2={{clade |1=Corn bunting – Emberiza calandra |2={{clade |1=Chestnut-eared bunting – Emberiza fucata |2={{clade |1=Tibetan bunting – Emberiza koslowi |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Jankowski's bunting – Emberiza jankowskii |2={{clade |1=Meadow bunting – Emberiza cioides |2={{clade |1=Rock bunting – Emberiza cia |2=Godlewski's bunting – Emberiza godlewskii |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Grey-necked bunting – Emberiza buchanani |2={{clade |1=Cinereous bunting – Emberiza cineracea |2={{clade |1=Cretzschmar's bunting – Emberiza caesia |2=Ortolan bunting – Emberiza hortulana |2={{clade |1=Cirl bunting – Emberiza cirlus |2={{clade |1=White-capped bunting – Emberiza stewarti |2={{clade |1=Yellowhammer – Emberiza citrinella |2=Pine bunting – Emberiza leucocephalos
List of species
The genus contains 44 species.
::data[format=table]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:A Rare Crested Bunting (50027361348).jpg | 120px]] | Crested bunting | Emberiza lathami |
| [[File:Emberiza siemsseni.jpg | center | frameless | 120x120px]] |
| [[File:Corn Bunting. Miliaria calandra (32291261152).jpg | 120px]] | Corn bunting | Emberiza calandra |
| [[File:Goldammer Emberiza citrinella.jpg | 120px]] | Yellowhammer | Emberiza citrinella |
| [[File:Pine Bunting (Emberiza leucocephalos) - Цагааншанаат хөмрөг (15617685422).jpg | 120px]] | Pine bunting | Emberiza leucocephalos |
| [[File:Rock Bunting (Cochem).jpg | 120px]] | Rock bunting | Emberiza cia |
| [[File:Godlewski's Bunting (Emberiza godlewskii) (16804118611) (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Godlewski's bunting | Emberiza godlewskii |
| [[File:Meadow bunting（Emberiza cioides）ホオジロ.jpg | 120px]] | Meadow bunting | Emberiza cioides |
| [[File:White-capped Bunting (Emberiza stewarti) (47269056742).jpg | 120px]] | White-capped bunting | Emberiza stewarti |
| Jankowski's bunting | Emberiza jankowskii | Russian Far East, Manchuria and far northeastern Korea | |
| [[File:Grey necked Bunting at Rajkot.jpg | 120px]] | Grey-necked bunting | Emberiza buchanani |
| [[File:090508-cinereous-bunting-at-Petrified-Forest.jpg | 120px]] | Cinereous bunting | Emberiza cineracea |
| [[File:Ortolan bunting in Sierra de Guara, Aragon, Spain.jpg | 120px]] | Ortolan bunting | Emberiza hortulana |
| [[File:Emberiza caesia.jpg | 120px]] | Cretzschmar's bunting | Emberiza caesia |
| [[File:Cirl bunting cropped.jpg | 120px]] | Cirl bunting | Emberiza cirlus |
| [[File:Striolated Bunting (Emberiza striolata) (24769786507).jpg | 120px]] | Striolated bunting | Emberiza striolata |
| [[File:11)faune d'El kantara(Algerie).jpg | 120px]] | House bunting | Emberiza sahari |
| [[File:Lark-like bunting (Emberiza impetuani impetuani) 2.jpg | 120px]] | Lark-like bunting | Emberiza impetuani |
| [[File:Emberiza tahapisi by Derek Keats.jpg | 120px]] | Cinnamon-breasted bunting | Emberiza tahapisi |
| [[File:Gosling's Bunting, Poli, Cameroon (5891148053).jpg | 120px]] | Gosling's bunting | Emberiza goslingi |
| Socotra bunting | Emberiza socotrana | Yemen | |
| [[File:Cape Bunting, Emberiza capensis at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa.jpg | 120px]] | Cape bunting | Emberiza capensis |
| [[File:Tristram's Bunting 9849 (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Tristram's bunting | Emberiza tristrami |
| [[File:Chestnut-eared Bunting - Nainital, Uttarakhand, India (14979940218).jpg | 120px]] | Chestnut-eared bunting | Emberiza fucata |
| [[File:Zwergammer.jpg | 120px]] | Little bunting | Emberiza pusilla |
| [[File:Yellow-browed bunting (Emberiza chrysophrys) Eocheong Island Korea 2012.jpg | 120px]] | Yellow-browed bunting | Emberiza chrysophrys |
| [[File:Kashiradaka-01.jpg | 120px]] | Rustic bunting | Emberiza rustica |
| [[File:Emberiza elegans male s3.JPG | 120px]] | Yellow-throated bunting | Emberiza elegans |
| [[File:Yellow-breasted bunting in Nepal 02 -Cropped.jpg | 120px]] | Yellow-breasted bunting | Emberiza aureola |
| [[File:Bunting, Somali Golden-breasted (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Somali bunting | Emberiza poliopleura |
| [[File:Emberiza flaviventris -Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve, South Africa-8.jpg | 120px]] | Golden-breasted bunting | Emberiza flaviventris |
| [[File:Brown-rumped Bunting - Gambia (32496573672).jpg | 120px]] | Brown-rumped bunting | Emberiza affinis |
| [[File:Emberiza cabanisi cognominata, Menongue, Birding Weto, a (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Cabanis's bunting | Emberiza cabanisi |
| [[File:Emberiza rutila - Rötelammer, Weibchen 172845812.jpg | 120px]] | Chestnut bunting | Emberiza rutila |
| [[File:Emberiza koslowi 367800246.jpg | frameless | 120x120px]] | Tibetan bunting |
| [[File:28-090504-black-headed-bunting-at-first-layby.jpg | 120px]] | Black-headed bunting | Emberiza melanocephala |
| [[File:Red-headed bunting (Emberiza bruniceps) Photograph by Shantanu Kuveskar.jpg | 120px]] | Red-headed bunting | Emberiza bruniceps |
| [[File:Yellow Bunting.jpg | 120px]] | Yellow bunting | Emberiza sulphurata |
| [[File:Black-faced bunting（Emberiza spodocephala）アオジ.jpg | 120px]] | Black-faced bunting | Emberiza spodocephala |
| [[File:Emberiza spodocephala.jpg | 120px]] | Masked bunting | Emberiza personata |
| [[File:Emberiza variabilis (male s2).JPG | 120px]] | Grey bunting | Emberiza variabilis |
| [[File:Emberiza pallasi (10) (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Pallas's reed bunting | Emberiza pallasi |
| [[File:A Japanese reed bunting (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Ochre-rumped bunting | Emberiza yessoensis |
| [[File:Common reed bunting (emberiza schoeniclus) m.jpg | 120px]] | Common reed bunting | Emberiza schoeniclus |
| :: |
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.
References
References
- (2013). "Going to extremes: contrasting rates of diversification in a recent radiation of New World passerine birds". Systematic Biology.
- (2015). "New insights into New World biogeography: An integrated view from the phylogeny of blackbirds, cardinals, sparrows, tanagers, warblers, and allies". Auk.
- Linnaeus, Carl. (1758). "Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis". Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii.
- (1970). "Check-list of Birds of the World". Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- Jobling, James A.. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
- {{ OED. Bunting
- (2008). "Phylogeny and classification of the Old World Emberizini (Aves, Passeriformes)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
- (2019). "Earth history and the passerine superradiation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
- (2014). "The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World". Aves Press.
- "Taxonomic structure and notes: Emberizidae". Lynx Edicions.
- (2019). "Cardinals, grosbeaks and (tanager) allies". International Ornithologists' Union.
- (2021). "Biogeography and diversification of Old World buntings (Aves: Emberizidae): radiation in open habitats". Journal of Avian Biology.
- (January 2021). "Sylviid babblers, parrotbills, white-eyes". International Ornithologists' Union.
- (1999). "A new species of extinct flightless passerine". The Condor.
- (2020). "A Fossil Bunting Emberiza shaamarica (Aves, Emberizidae) from the Upper Pliocene of Central Asia". Paleontological Journal.
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