It is common in all sorts of open areas with some scrub or trees, but has a preference for sunny slopes.

The cirl bunting was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name Emberiza cirlus.

The specific cirlus is from a local Italian name cirlo, for a type of bunting, from zirlare, "to chirp".

[9] The ideal farmland habitat is a mixture of grass and arable fields, divided by thick hedgerows with pockets of dense scrub.

[10] They can tolerate a certain degree of urbanisation, and are found in green spaces in towns and cities, even Rome.

[citation needed] They are sedentary in nature and will often travel only 250 metres (820 ft) from their nests to forage in summer, and up to 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) in winter to find stubble.

[11] In the summer their natural food consists of invertebrates for example grasshoppers and crickets to feed their chicks.

[13] Through its Countryside Stewardship Scheme and environmental stewardship, Natural England has various options to conserve the species: A partnership between Natural England and the RSPB runs the "Cirl Bunting Project", part of a larger project called "Action for Birds".