The Cirl Bunting is found in western and southern Europe as well as parts of north Africa. In Britain it is confined to a handful of sites near the coasts of south west England. See the distribution map at Birdlife International.

The male, as shown here, has a yellow face with a black throat and eye-stripe. A yellow stripe separates the black throat from an olive-green breast band leading into a yellow belly. The female looks very like a female Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella.