Ortolan Bunting

Like all buntings except for the Reed bunting, the Ortolan Bunting exhibits sexual dimorphism. The male breeding bird can be recognized by its colorful plumage. Its head has a particular shade, made up of a mixture of gray and olive green, which is quite characteristic. From the same tone come the two malar stripes and the top of the chest. The mustaches and throat are yellow. The dark eye is circled by yellow. The upper parts are a warm brownish red. The underside of the body (lower chest, belly and flanks) is clearly reddish. The tail is black, with white at the end of the three outer pairs of rectrices. The beak, well conical, and the legs are pink.
The female resembles the male but with less colorful plumage. No green tone on the head, rather brown and striped on the cap. The malar stripes are black. The eye circle, mustaches, throat and top of the chest are creamy, with the last finely striped with brown.
The juvenile resembles the female, but even more dull. The most visible character are the well-marked black streaks over the entire chest from the malar stripes. The brown head is striped on the cap and shows whitish eye circles and mustaches.