NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Black-headed Bunting
Emberiza melanocephala Scopoli, 1769
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The black-headed bunting (Emberiza melanocephala) is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae. It breeds in south-east Europe east to Iran and migrates in winter mainly to India, with some individuals moving further into south-east Asia. Like others in its family, it is found in open grassland habitats where they fly in flocks in search of grains and seed. Adult males are well marked with yellow underparts, chestnut back and a black head. Adult females in breeding plumage look like duller males. In other plumages, they can be hard to separate from the closely related red-headed bunting and natural hybridization occurs between the two species in the zone of overlap of their breeding ranges in northern Iran.
Wikipedia contributors, Black-headed bunting; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:42:57.183883+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Emberiza melanocephala Scopoli, 1769
- Name authority
- Scopoli, 1769
- Common name
- Black-headed Bunting
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Emberizidae
- Genus
- Emberiza
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyEmberizidae
- genusEmberiza Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesEmberiza melanocephala Scopoli, 1769
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Emberiza. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Brown-rumped BuntingEmberiza affinis Heuglin, 1867 | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-breasted BuntingEmberiza aureola Pallas, 1773 | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Meadow BuntingEmberiza cioides J. F. Brandt, 1843 | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-throated BuntingEmberiza elegans Temminck, 1836 | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chestnut-eared BuntingEmberiza fucata Pallas, 1776 | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Godlewski's BuntingEmberiza godlewskii Taczanowski, 1874 | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gosling's BuntingEmberiza goslingi (Alexander, 1906) | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ortolan BuntingEmberiza hortulana Linnaeus, 1758 | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Crested BuntingEmberiza lathami J. E. Gray, 1831 | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pine BuntingEmberiza leucocephalos S. G. Gmelin, 1771 | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pallas' Reed-BuntingEmberiza pallasi (Cabanis, 1851) | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Somali BuntingEmberiza poliopleura (Salvadori, 1888) | EmberizidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Oceania
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=554227 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6F7GC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.