Little Bunting

Emberiza pusilla

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

47% of its open observations in the area are from December.

Photograph: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 4.0, vía Wikimedia Commons

Length: 13 cm
Weight: 17 g

Presence in the Strait

Accidental. Three records of single birds: at Tarifa on 12.10.76, at the River Hozgarganta (Jimena) on 17.10.80 and at La Janda on 24.01.88.

Identification

Similar to female Reed Bunting but smaller, with black lateral crown stripes, prominent eye-ring, and red-brown earcoverts and central crown-stripe. They breed in the taiga of NE Europe. Emberizidae Escribano Montesino Escribano Sahariano Chingolo Gorgiblanco ad.W Escribano Pigmeo

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Calendar in the Strait

47 %

Peak in December. 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: 15 November 2012
Latest record: 25 February 2025

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

Rustic Bunting13–14.5 cm · Vagrant · overlapping size
Common Reed Bunting15.5–15.5 cm · Seasonal
Rock Bunting16–16 cm · Resident
Ortolan Bunting16.5–16.5 cm · Migrant
Cirl Bunting16.5–16.5 cm · Resident

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: 2491544

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 4.0, vía Wikimedia Commons
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026