UKBirds

Pine Bunting

Emberiza leucocephalos

The Pine Bunting, Emberiza leucocephalos, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group most modern authors now separate from the finches, Fringillidae.

The Pine Bunting is a robust 16-17.5-centimetre bird, with a thick seed-eater's bill. The male has a white crown and cheeks, and a chestnut forehead and throat, and a heavily streaked brown back. The female is much duller and is more streaked on its undersides. Non-breeding plumage is like that of a Yellowhammer, but with all the yellow replaced by white. Its song and calls are like those of the Yellowhammer.