Family:
Cretzschmar’s bunting closely resembles the ortolan bunting but is slightly smaller, with a grey base colour on the head instead of green.
The adult male has brown upperparts with heavy streaking on the back, while the underparts are a rich rusty orange with a blue-grey breast. Its head is grey, with an orange moustache and a rusty throat with buff-edged feathers. The eyes are dark with a white eyering, the bill is pink, and the legs and feet are pale.
The female is paler overall, with finer streaks on the back and a warmer brown rump. She has less grey on the head and an orange-buff throat.
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Cretzschmar’s bunting primarily feeds on small grass seeds but supplements its diet with small invertebrates, particularly ants, during the breeding season. It forages almost exclusively on the ground.
Cretzschmar’s bunting breeds in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and the Levant, favouring open hillsides and rocky slopes with scattered vegetation. In winter, it migrates south to Sudan and northern Eritrea, where it inhabits fields, savannas, and dry river valleys.
