Birds
Bunting
Emberizidae · also called buntings
Ask a birdwatcher in England and one in Texas what a bunting looks like and you will get two completely different answers, because the name covers two genuinely unrelated groups of birds: a family of understated Old World farmland seed-eaters, and a handful of the most vividly coloured songbirds in the Americas.
Overview
Old World buntings, family Emberizidae, are farmland and grassland songbirds across Europe, Asia, and Africa, generally showing subdued, streaky brown plumage. The unrelated New World birds also called buntings — including the indigo bunting and painted bunting — belong to an entirely different family, Cardinalidae, and are often among the most brilliantly coloured songbirds in North America.
One name, two very different birds
Both groups tend to nest on or near the ground, leaving eggs vulnerable to machinery, grazing, and predators, and both eat a mix of seeds and insects that shifts toward insects during the breeding season. Beyond ecology and the shared name, the two groups have no close relationship at all.
Status
Least Concern overall, but decreasing for several traditionally common Old World farmland species, hit hard by agricultural intensification and the loss of hedgerows and fallow land.
Bunting: common questions
Are all birds called buntings closely related to each other?
No, the name bunting is applied to two genuinely unrelated groups of songbirds, the large Old World family Emberizidae found across Europe, Asia, and Africa, and separately to certain brightly coloured New World birds within the cardinal family, Cardinalidae, such as the indigo bunting and painted bunting. Despite sharing the same common name, these two groups are not closely related, and the shared name reflects historical naming conventions and superficial similarities rather than any close evolutionary connection.
Why do Old World and New World buntings look so different from each other?
Old World Emberizidae buntings generally display relatively subdued, streaky brown or grey plumage well suited to blending into farmland and grassland habitat, while the unrelated New World birds carrying the bunting name, belonging to the cardinal family, frequently display much more vivid, saturated colouration. This striking visual difference reflects the two groups' entirely separate evolutionary histories despite the shared common name, rather than any meaningful biological similarity between them.
Why have some Old World bunting populations declined so much?
Several traditionally common farmland-associated bunting species in parts of Europe have experienced significant, well-documented population declines linked to changes in agricultural practice, including the loss of traditional hedgerows, reduced fallow land, and more intensive pesticide use, which has reduced the insect prey many buntings rely on especially heavily to feed nestlings during the breeding season. These declines have made certain bunting species a specific and closely monitored conservation concern within broader farmland bird communities.
Do buntings build their nests in trees?
Many bunting species, in both the Old World and New World groups, prefer to nest on or very close to the ground within dense grass or low shrubby vegetation rather than higher up in trees, a habit that provides some concealment from predators but also leaves eggs and chicks vulnerable to agricultural machinery, livestock grazing, and ground-based predators. This widespread ground-nesting tendency across both unrelated bunting groups is considered a significant factor in their sensitivity to changes in farmland and grassland management.