Cirl Bunting

The introduced cirl bunting is a localised New Zealand farmland bird with a much smaller range than the yellowhammer. Males have a black throat and eye stripe, yellow face bands and an olive-grey chest; females are brown and streaked but show a stronger face pattern than female yellowhammers.

It is patchily distributed in dry, warm districts, with established populations centred in parts of the northern South Island. Cirl buntings forage on the ground for seeds and invertebrates and nest in dense hedges or scrub.

Dry farmland with mature hedges around Nelson and Marlborough offers the best chance, though the species can be elusive.