First described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1776, the little bunting is a monotypic species,[2] with no geographical variation across its extensive Palearctic range.

With its chestnut face and white malar stripe, it resembles a small female reed bunting, but has black crown stripes, a white eye-ring, and a fine dark border to the rear of its chestnut cheeks.

The little bunting breeds across the taiga of the far north-east of Europe and northern Eurosiberia to the Russian Far East.

[3] The birds remain in their winter quarters for quite long; specimens were taken in Yunnan in late March.

[3] This species is adaptable; in the mountains of Bhutan for example, where small numbers winter, it is typically found in an agricultural habitat, mostly between 1,000 and 2,000 metres (3,300 and 6,600 ft) ASL.