Afghanistan (NB), China (mainland) (B), India, Iran [Islamic Republic of], Iraq (NB), Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan (B), Kyrgyzstan (B), Mongolia (B), Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B), South Korea, USA.
Vagrant to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska), Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands Antilles, Norway, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Pine Bunting (Emberiza leucocephalos) [XC765982]
by Stanislas Wroza from Tosontsengel, Zavkhan, Mongolia (alarm call, call, flight call, interaction calls)
Pine Bunting (Emberiza leucocephalos) [XC145251]
by Alexander Hellquist from Usbulaq, Dzhungarskiy Alatau, Kazakhstan (song)
Subspecies
Most closely related to, and perhaps forming a superspecies with, Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) and sometimes considered conspecific, but the two differ clearly in plumage, as well as in behaviour and osteology, supporting treatment as separate species. Closest species to this pair are White-capped Bunting (Emberiza stewarti) and Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus). This species and Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) hybridize extensively in western and central Siberia (across c. 3000 km in taiga and forest-steppe zone from R Ural east to L Baikal), and intensity of interbreeding is increasing, since each species is expanding its breeding range across/towards that of the other; this type of interbreeding has been described as intermediate between occasional hybridization (not influencing gene pools of parent species) and introgressive hybridization (resulting sometimes in local fusion of species). An independent recent analysis of phylogeny supports recognition of two independent species, although cytochrome b sequences are very similar, resulting in a strong indication that they are sister-species; sharing of haplotypes even in very distant locations seems to be result of introgression of mitochondrial DNA. An independent alternative study also argues that both species are older than their closest relatives and that mtDNA has recently introgressed between them, most likely as a result of selective sweep.
Proposed subspecies of present species stachanowi (described from Naryn, in Tien Shan of central Kyrgyzstan) and karpovi (from Chita, in Transbaikalia, and Blagoveshchensk, in south-eastern Russian Amurland) are synonymized with nominate.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
leucocephalos Gmelin, 1771 - Eastern European Russia from central and southern Ural region (Sverdlovsk district and Chelyabinsk) eastern across Siberia (north to c. 62° in western and 67° in east) to Russian Far East (upper R Kolyma and mountains north of Sea of Okhotsk), south to northern Kazakhstan, central and eastern Tien Shan, north-western and north-eastern China, northern Mongolia, and lower R Amur and Sakhalin I; bulk of population winters from Afghanistan and northern Pakistan east to Nepal, northern China, northern Mongolia and Japan, and south to southern Turkmenistan, northern and south-western Iran and northern Israel (also tiny numbers in north-eastern Italy and south-eastern France).
fronto Stresemann, 1930 - North-eastern Qinghai (from eastern border of Zaidam Depression) east to southern Gansu, in north-central China.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet