# Little bunting (*Emberiza pusilla*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-bunting  
Data as of: 2026-11-13

The little bunting (Emberiza pusilla) is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup, belonging to the order Passeriformes and the family Emberizidae. It is a small, migratory bird with an adult body mass of 14.57 g, with reported values from 14.2 to 15.4 g. The little bunting is a granivore at the herbivore trophic level, lives in forest habitat and is a generalist in its foraging stratum. It lays 5 eggs per clutch, has 1 clutch per year with an incubation period of 11.5 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 14.2 g – 15.4 g |
| Length | 12 cm – 14 cm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Granivore |
| Main food | seeds |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 11.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 5 |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Generalist |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Emberizidae
- genus: Emberiza
- species: *Emberiza pusilla* Pallas, 1776

Synonyms: *Chrysophrys pusilla*, *Emberiza durazzi*, *Ocyris pusillus*, *Schoeniclus pusillus*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the little bunting?

The little bunting is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup. It belongs to the order Passeriformes and the family Emberizidae.

### How much does a little bunting weigh?

An adult Little bunting weighs 14.57 g. Reported values range from 14.2 to 15.4 g.

### What does the little bunting eat?

The little bunting is a granivore, placing it at the herbivore trophic level.

### Is the little bunting endangered?

No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) in the global IUCN Red List assessment, which is not a threatened category.

### How many eggs does the little bunting lay?

The little bunting lays 5 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 11.5 days.

### Does the little bunting migrate?

Yes, the little bunting is migratory. Its geographic range covers 10,270,000 km².

### Who named the little bunting?

The little bunting was named Emberiza pusilla by Pallas, 1776.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Little bunting (Emberiza pusilla). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-bunting