Cirl Bunting

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Cirl Bunting, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Red listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	Yes
Birds Directive Annex 1	No
Listed on the Annexes of	WCA(I,IV), Bern(III), NERC (41)

Until the 1930s, the Cirl Bunting was a widespread breeding bird in Britain and found as far north as North Wales and Yorkshire (Evans 1992) It was still widespread but very localised across southern England at the time of the 1968–72 Breeding Atlas (Sharrock 1976), but further declines occurred during the 1970s (Sitters 1982) and by 1989 the species had become almost entirely restricted to a small area in Devon with a population of only around 118 territories (Evans 1992). Intensive conservation efforts have led to a partial recovery and, although still restricted to south-west England, the population has grown considerably. The last full survey in 2016 estimated a population of 1,079 breeding pairs (Jeffs et al. 2018).

Cirl Buntings were formerly widespread breeders across southern England and Wales, and a resident of the Channel Islands. Nowadays they are confined to a narrow coastal strip of south Devon and to east Cornwall where birds have been reintroduced.

Until around 1930

Cirl Bunting is a localised resident and recorded throughout the year.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Ring size	A (pulli B)
Field Codes	2-letter: CL | 5-letter code: CIRBU | Euring: 18580

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Causes of change

It has been suggested that loss of winter stubbles during the 1970s may have been a major cause of decline (Evans & Smith 1994). Lack of food in the breeding season as a result of agricultural intenstification, and a loss of nesting sites due to hedgerow management may also have contributed (Jeffs et al. 2016). Intensive research and conservation action has resulted in the provision (through agri-environment schemes) of breeding and wintering habitat designed specifically for the species which has driven the recent increases in Cirl Bunting numbers and also benefited other species (MacDonald et al. 2012, Jeffs et al. 2016). However, despite the population increases, there were no initial signs that Cirl Buntings might naturally recolonise sites outside the managed areas (Peach et al. 2001, Stanbury et al. 2010) and the limited availability of fallow and set-aside elsewhere may have prevented more substantial range expansion. The species was reintroduced to Cornwall between 2006 and 2011 (Jeffs et al. 2016) and the most recent survey also shows more encouraging signs of range expansion to north and east Devon although the species remains vulnerable without agri-environment schemes (Jeffs et al. 2018).