Lazuli Bunting Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesLazuli Bunting
Breeding male
Small, stocky songbird with a cone-shaped bill and a gently sloping forehead. Breeding males are brilliant blue above with a pumpkin-colored breast and a white belly. Note white shoulder patch.
© Wolfe R / Macaulay LibraryColorado, July 06, 2019Female/immature male
Females/immature males are warm brown above with blue tints on the wings and tail and an unstreaked pale cinnamon breast. Note buffy wingbars.
© Russ Morgan / Macaulay LibraryOregon, June 10, 2018Breeding male
Perches upright and sings from exposed perches in low trees, shrubs, or wires. Males sing a complex series of jumbling and squeaky notes and give a sharp, metallic pik.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryMontana, June 01, 1998Nonbreeding male
Nonbreeding males have a pumpkin-colored breast, but their backs and heads are mottled blue and tan.
© Jim Merritt / Macaulay LibraryColorado, May 14, 2020Breeding male
Sings a complex series of jumbled notes.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryMontana, June 03, 1998Female/immature male
Small, finchlike, stocky songbird with a cone-shaped bill. Females/immature males are warm grayish brown above, with an unstreaked pale cinnamon or tan breast.
© Mary Rumple / Macaulay LibraryIdaho, August 04, 2017Breeding male
Male Lazuli Buntings perch upright and sing from exposed perches in low trees, shrubs, or wires. Brilliant blue head and pumpkin breast are distinctive.
© Alix d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryBritish Columbia, May 28, 2017Male
Frequents bird feeders, especially ones that offer white proso millet, sunflower seeds, or nyjer/thistle seeds.
© Larry Arbanas / Macaulay LibraryTexas, April 23, 2008Breeding male
Breeds in brushy hillsides, areas near streams, wooded valleys, thickets and hedges along agricultural fields, recently burned areas, and residential gardens of western North America.
© Jesse Amesbury / Macaulay LibraryIdaho, May 20, 2017Female/immature
Females/immatures are warm grayish brown above, with an unstreaked pale cinnamon or tan breast.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryWyoming, May 31, 1995Similar SpeciesIndigo Bunting
Breeding male
Breeding male Indigo Buntings are easily separated from Lazuli Buntings by their entirely blue bodies.
© mark kraus / Macaulay LibraryOhio, May 09, 2014Similar SpeciesIndigo Bunting
Female/immature
Female Indigo Buntings have faint streaks on the sides of the breast and a whitish throat, whereas female Lazuli Buntings have an unstreaked breast and a gray throat.
© David Forsyth / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, May 17, 2016Similar SpeciesVaried Bunting
Female
Female Varied Buntings have plain brown wings and lack the Lazuli’s two buffy wingbars.
© David Hollie / Macaulay LibraryArizona, June 04, 2015Similar SpeciesWestern Bluebird
Female/immature
Western Bluebirds are larger than Lazuli Buntings, with thinner, more delicate bills and without wingbars.
© Erica Rutherford/ John Colbert / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, June 09, 2017Similar SpeciesBlue Grosbeak
Breeding male
Blue Grosbeaks are larger than Lazuli Buntings with much heavier bills. Male Blue Grosbeaks have a blue belly and rufous wingbars, without the orange chest or white belly of male Lazuli Buntings.
© Cliff Peterson / Macaulay LibraryTexas, April 21, 2015Similar SpeciesBlue Grosbeak
Female/immature
Blue Grosbeaks are larger and have bigger beaks than Lazuli Buntings. Female Blue Grosbeaks have browner wingbars compared to the buffy wingbars of female Lazuli Buntings.
© Luke Seitz / Macaulay LibraryMaine, October 03, 2011Similar SpeciesBrown-headed Cowbird
Female
Brown-headed Cowbirds are larger and stockier than Lazuli Buntings, with a heavier and longer conical bill.
© Arlene Ripley / Macaulay LibraryArizona, July 02, 2017Compare with Similar Species
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Species in This Family
Cardinals and Allies(Order: Passeriformes, Family: Cardinalidae)
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