Albania (B), Armenia (B), Azerbaijan (B), Bahrain (P), Bosnia and Herzegovina (B), Bulgaria (B), Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B), Cyprus (B), Egypt, Georgia (B), Greece (B) (P), Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B), Iraq (B), Israel (B), Italy (B), Jordan (B) (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kuwait, Lebanon (B), Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B), Montenegro (B), Nepal, Oman, Romania (B), Russia (European) (B), Saudi Arabia, Serbia (B), Slovenia (B), Syrian Arab Republic (B), Turkey (B), Ukraine (B), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (B).
Vagrant to Afghanistan, Algeria, Austria, Brunei Darussalam, China (mainland), Czech Republic, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong (China), Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Laos, Latvia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Netherlands Antilles, Norway, Palau, Poland, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia.
Breeds in south-eastern Europe from Italy and Balkans east to Black Sea coast, from eastern Ukraine (east of R Dnieper) and south-western Russia east to north-western Caspian region and south to northern Caucasus region (absent from Greater Caucasus) and, in south, from Aegean islands and Turkey east to eastern Georgia, Azerbaijan and north-eastern and south-western Iran (in southern locally east to Baluchistan) and south to Israel, western Jordan and northern Iraq. Winters in western India.
Population
Estimated population is 10,000,000 - 50,000,000 (2010).
Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala) [XC806843]
by Stanislas Wroza from Arrondissement de Forcalquier (near Brunet), Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d'Azur, France (song)
Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala) [XC660932]
by from Donji Andrijevci, Op\u0107ina Donji Andrijevci, Brodsko-posavska \u017eupanija, Croatia (call)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Forms a superspecies with Red-headed Bunting (Emberiza bruniceps), and both sometimes placed in genus Granativora. Recent phylogenetic study indicates that they are closely related to Crested Bunting (Emberiza lathami). Hybridizes with Red-headed Bunting (Emberiza bruniceps) in area of Caspian Sea.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet