Bangladesh, Bhutan (B), China (mainland), India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam.
Southern slopes of Himalayas from north-eastern Pakistan (Murree) east to north-eastern India (Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur), also central India (from eastern Rajasthan, southern Gujarat, south-western Maharashtra, northern Andhra Pradesh and eastern Madhya Pradesh east to southern Bihar), and southern China (from Red Basin of Sichuan east, chiefly south of 30° north, to Anhui and Zhejiang, south to Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong) south to Myanmar, northern and central Laos and northern Vietnam (Tonkin). Also western and north-western Thailand in non-breeding season.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Crested Bunting (Emberiza lathami) [XC652967]
by Saswat Mishra from Melakadi, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India (song)
Crested Bunting (Emberiza lathami) [XC100909]
by vir joshi from southeast of Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh, India (song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
No obvious affinities. Recent molecular studies suggest that genus is very close to Emberiza, and may be better subsumed within it. On the other hand, striking plumage features, especially of male, favour retention of a monotypic genus. Quite marked difference between shiny blue-black and rusty-chestnut males in western part of range (India) and dull brownish-black and orange-rufous males in eastern China, but extensive intervening areas inhabited by intermediates. Indian populations sometimes separated as subspecies subcristata (described from the Deccan, in south-central India), but delimitation of any clear subspecies is difficult.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet