Lazuli Bunting
Passerina amoena
Also known as: Lazuli Finch
About This Species
Males sing a bright, warbling song from an exposed perch on brushy hillsides and shrubby streamside edges across the western United States in spring and early summer, showing off their turquoise-blue head and rust-washed breast. Females and juveniles are far duller brown and are best located by following a singing male into the same patch of scrub. It migrates to Mexico for the winter, so breeding-season mornings in open, brush-lined habitat give the most reliable views.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- It receives migratory bird protections in the United States and comparable wildlife law in Mexico, though the specific rules and enforcement differ between the two countries across its annual range.
- Viewing from a distance that does not push the bird off its singing perch, and avoiding approach to a low nest hidden in dense shrub, keeps disturbance to a minimum.
- Playback should be used sparingly if at all, since repeated calls can pull a territorial male away from feeding or nest defence.
LCAvesPasseriformesCardinalidae
Seasonal Activity
621,757 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cardinalidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.