Bird GuideCardinals, Grosbeaks and BuntingsBlue Bunting

Blue Bunting

Blue Bunting
Cyanocompsa parellina
At a Glance Range & Identification Climate Vulnerability Back to Top

At a Glance

In dense thickets and woodland edges of Mexico and northern Central America, this dark bunting is fairly common. In our area it is a rare and irregular visitor to far southern Texas, mostly occurring in winter. It has very rarely strayed farther up the Texas coast, once reaching Louisiana.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
Cardinals, Perching Birds
Conservation
Low Concern
Habitat
Forests and Woodlands, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets
Region
Texas

Range & Identification

Description

5 - 5 1/2" (13-14 cm). Suggests Indigo Bunting but has thicker, stubbier bill. Male shows contrasting patches of darker and brighter blue; female plain warm brown all over. No wing-bars (see Blue Grosbeak).
Size
About the size of a Robin, About the size of a Sparrow
Color
Black, Blue, Brown
Wing Shape
Rounded
Tail Shape
Notched, Rounded, Square-tipped

Songs and Calls

Call note a hard click or chink. Song a variable warble, sweet but slightly melancholy, swee slee lee.

Climate Vulnerability

Conservation Status