A bunting with cinnamon underparts, black-and-brown mottled upperparts, and a black-and-orange bill. The male’s head is boldly striped black-and-white and the throat is pale gray. The female’s head is less contrasting, with gray and buff stripes, and the throat is streaked blackish-brown. Juvenile is duller than adult. Prefers rocky outcrops, quarries, and gullies in arid and moist savanna and semi-desert, favoring open ground. Often found in pairs. It is often detected by its grating song. The similar Cinnamon-breasted Bunting differs from Gosling’s Bunting by having a black (not gray or blackish-brown streaked) throat and less rusty wings; birds in northern Ethiopia/Eritrea may be part of a hybrid swarm. House Bunting has a streaked (not solid) throat and breast.