Emberizidae

Emberizidae is a family of Old World passerine birds now containing the single genus Emberiza, comprising 44 species commonly known as buntings. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills adapted to cracking open seeds, occupying open and half-open habitats including deserts, stony drylands, shrubland, savanna and open taiga forest. The genus is thought to have originated in the New World, from which its ancestor colonized eastern Asia across the Bering Strait during the late Miocene, and its species today range from Europe and North Africa across Asia. Migratory behavior varies within the family, from sedentary residents to strongly migratory species in taiga habitats, and the group appears to have diversified as climate change reduced forest cover and expanded open grassland habitats; despite the shared common name, the New World buntings of the genus Passerina belong instead to the unrelated family Cardinalidae.