# Ortolan bunting (*Emberiza hortulana*)

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

The ortolan bunting (Emberiza hortulana) is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup, belonging to the family Emberizidae in the order Passeriformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 19.9 g, up to 24.55 g, and a wingspan of 26 cm. The ortolan bunting is a migratory omnivore of shrubland with a generalist foraging lifestyle, and its geographic range covers 9,881,000 km². It lays 4.5 eggs per clutch with one clutch per year, the eggs are incubated for 11.5 days, and the species is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 19.9 g – 24.6 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 26 cm |
| Lifespan | 5.83 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 6.83 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | shrubland |
| Egg incubation | 11.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4.5 |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| 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 hortulana* Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms: *Emberiza antiquorum*, *Emberiza hortulana elisabethae*, *Emberiza hortulana hortulana*, *Emberiza tunstalli*, *Fringilla janjohari*, *Glycispina hortulana*

## Common questions

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

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

### How big is the ortolan bunting?

It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 19.9 g, up to 24.55 g. Its wingspan is 26 cm.

### What does the ortolan bunting eat?

The ortolan bunting is an omnivore with a generalist foraging lifestyle.

### Where does the ortolan bunting live?

It lives in shrubland and is migratory. Its geographic range covers 9,881,000 km².

### Is the ortolan bunting endangered?

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

### How long does the ortolan bunting live?

Its lifespan is 5.8 years, with values up to 6.8 years reported.

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

It lays 4.5 eggs per clutch and has one clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 11.5 days.

### Who named the ortolan bunting?

The ortolan bunting, Emberiza hortulana, was named by Linnaeus, 1758.

## 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: Ortolan bunting (Emberiza hortulana). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/ortolan-bunting