Cirl Bunting

The male Cirl Bunting looks superficially similar to the Yellow Bunting. The confusion may come especially from females and juveniles. It is a bit smaller with a shorter tail. The nuptial male obviously stands out from behind due to its very chestnut-colored upper parts (coat, covers and tertiaries) and the absence of a vivid red in the rump which is olive gray. Seen from the front, the most striking thing is the pattern of the head and chest. The first is very contrasted with a succession of dark stripes (gray cap striped with black, black lore, blackish auricular covers and black throat) and two yellow stripes interposed framing the dark orbital band. A white spot is visible at the back of the parotic. The chest has a wide olive plastron topped with a yellow collar and framed by two large chestnut patches reaching up to the wrists. The belly is yellow and the flanks slightly striped. The beak is two-tone, black above and grayish blue below. The two outer pairs of rectrices have white, clearly visible only in flight or during grooming, in their internal vexil. The female looks like the male but less colored. It stands out quite easily from the female of the Yellow Bunting thanks to its chestnut covers, its gray-brown rump, the head and chest patterns identical to those of the male but less marked and less colored. The plumage is more striped and the throat is white. The juvenile is like a dull female. The chestnut of the wings remains remarkable. Compared to the young B. jaune, the head pattern is clear. The chest and flanks are more clearly and finely striped with brown. And of course, let's not forget that the two species have very different cries.