English: Rock Bunting 
Russian: Горная овсянка        
Mongolian: Цагаанхөмсөгт хөмрөг
German: Zippammer     
French: Bruant fou                    
Japanese: ヒゲホウジロ (Hige-hojiro)

Body length: 15-16 ½ cm.

Breeds on steep, often boulder-strewn or rocky, open mountain slopes immediately above treeline (often below 1500 m in Europe) with grass and herbage along with thorn bushes and scattered trees, sometimes in glades and alpine meadows just below treeline; locally in coastal regions down to sea-level. Chiefly resident, but in winter usually descends to lower levels. Not really shy, but unobtrusive and is easily overlooked when ♂ not singing.

Identification: Fairly big, short-winged but long-tailed. Identified in all plumages by contrasty head markings, with dark stripes along crown-side, through eye and framing cheek, combined with ash-grey throat and ash-grey breast (mostly on ♂), rusty-brown (or on young ♀ orange-buff) belly, white outer tail-corners, and grey lesser wing-coverts. Lower mandible light lead-grey. Rump unstreaked red-brown. Sexes similar.

• Adult ♂: Black head markings, whitish supercilium, unspotted pale lead-grey on throat and breast, and unstreaked flanks.
• Adult ♀: Occasionally inseparable from ♂ in field, but many can be told by less extensive grey on breast, light streaking on lower throat, breast and flanks, and more diffuse head pattern.