Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia) [XC839404]
by Gianluca Congi from Mont Toubkal, Al Haouz, Marrakesh-Safi, Morocco (call)
Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia) [XC731085]
by Christian Kerihuel from Arrondissement de Nice (near Guillaumes), Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-C\u00f4te d'Azur, France (song)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies, and previously treated as conspecific, with Godlewski's Bunting (Emberiza godlewskii). Geographical variation mainly clinal, subspecies grading into each other. Birds from northern Europe tend to be darker than those from southern Europe and central Asia, but differences between subspecies generally slight.
Other proposed subspecies are callensis (from Bom Jesus, Braga, in northern Portugal), africana (from Spain and Morocco east to Tunisia) and mokrzechyi (from extreme western Caucasus), all synonymized with nominate; and prageri (from Crimea and Caucasus), serebrowskii (from Altai and Tarbagatay) and lasdini (from Pamirs), all synonymized with par.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
cia Linnaeus, 1766 - Central and southern Europe east to Turkey and Levant, and northern Africa east to Tunisia.
par Hartert, 1904 - Crimea and Caucasus and eastern Turkey east to Iran, and central Asia east to western Mongolian Altai.
stracheyi Moore, F, 1856 - North-western Himalayas from extreme south-western China (south-western Xizang), Baltistan and Kashmir east to northern India (Kumaon) and western Nepal.
flemingorum Martens, J, 1972 - Western and central Nepal.
hordei Brehm, CL, 1831 - Greece through southern Turkey and south to Israel and Jordan.
prageri Laubmann, 1915 - The Caucasus, southern Ukraine, eastern Turkey and south-western and northern Iran.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet