Black-headed Bunting

Emberiza melanocephala

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Emberizidae
Presence in the Strait: Vagrant
IUCN (global): LC · Least concern
In Spanish: Escribano cabecinegro

Photograph: Ani Sarkisyan, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 17 cm
Weight: 29 g

Presence in the Strait

Accidental. Two records: a possible male at Zahara de los Atunes on 1.09.69 and at Cortijo Los Charcones in La Janda on 5.12.87.

Identification

Large and colourful, lacks white in tail. Males are unmistakable. Females are similarly patterned to males but much paler. Juveniles have tawny-brown upperparts with dark streaking and buffish underparts with streaked sides to breast. Rusty-brown head with dark-streaked crown and yellowish undertail coverts. They breed in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Calendar in the Strait

100 %

Peak in May. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 22 May 1910
Latest record: 22 May 1910

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: Outside the Red List (not assessed)
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Ortolan Bunting16.5–16.5 cm · Migrant
Cirl Bunting16.5–16.5 cm · Resident
Rock Bunting16–16 cm · Resident
Corn Bunting18–18 cm · Resident
Common Reed Bunting15.5–15.5 cm · Seasonal

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Emberizidae
GBIF taxon key: 9613112

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Ani Sarkisyan, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026