The Cinereous Bunting uses rocky, scrub-covered slopes and nests on the ground. Its underparts range from whitish gray to yellowish between the western and eastern subspecies.
The western subspecies, cineracea, is described as white- or gray-bellied, while the eastern subspecies, semenowi, is yellowish below.
It nests on the ground, tucked against a rock or vegetation on a rocky slope. During breeding, it has been recorded eating seeds and small invertebrates on the ground.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.