Buntings

Buntings, seed-eating passerines with conical bills, are represented by 45 species in the genus Emberiza, the sole member of the family Emberizidae. Once part of a larger family including New World sparrows and longspurs, taxonomic revisions now place these in separate families following molecular studies. Carl Linnaeus first introduced the genus in 1758, with the yellowhammer designated as the type species. Recent genetic research groups buntings closely with Calcariidae (longspurs and snow buntings). The genus has been subject to debate over splitting into multiple genera, but no consensus has been reached, and the genus remains intact. Buntings are divided into four clades, with some species' relationships yet to be determined. Notably, although some New World birds also carry the name "bunting," they fall under the family Cardinalidae. Emberiza buntings have diverse distributions across the Old World, ranging from African, Palearctic, and Asian regions, with some species also known to have become extinct in the Quaternary and Pliocene periods.