To assess the Rustic Bunting’s global conservation status we compiled, for the first time, population data across its breeding and wintering ranges. The analysis reveals a 75–87% decline in overall population size over the last 30 years and a 32–91% decline over the last 10 years. The trend estimates indicate that the long-term (30-year) range-wide population decline in the Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica) is of similar magnitude to two well-known examples of declining species within the same genus, the Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola and the Ortolan Bunting E. hortulana.
