Like others in its family, it is found in open grassland habitats where they fly in flocks in search of grains and seed.

In other plumages, they can be hard to separate from the closely related red-headed bunting and natural hybridization occurs between the two species in the zone of overlap of their breeding ranges in northern Iran.

The black-headed bunting was formally described in 1769 by the Austrian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli under the binomial name Emberiza melanocephala.

The female is a washed-out version of the male, with paler underparts, a grey-brown back and a greyish head.

The juvenile is similar but the vent is yellow, and both can be difficult to separate from the corresponding plumages of the closely related red-headed bunting although the black-headed tends to have the cheeks darker than the throat.

[7] The black-headed bunting breeds in open scrubby areas including agricultural land.

[9] In winter they form large communal roosts in thorny acacia trees, often joining other species such as the yellow-throated sparrow.

In Bulgaria, the collapse of the drying cotton thistle (Onopordum acanthium) stems on which the birds build their nests has caused high mortality; this is thought to be an example of an ecological trap.

[12] In northern Iran, there is a region of range overlap with the red-headed bunting and natural hybrids are common[13] although molecular data indicates that there is considerable genetic divergence between the two species.