SFVAS’s Bird of the Month for July is the Lazuli Bunting!
The Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena) is a small finch-like songbird closely related to cardinals. Males are known for their striking plumage, featuring a bright lapis-blue head and back, warm cinnamon breast, and two crisp white wing bars. The females are much more understated, sporting a soft grayish-brown coat with faint buff-colored wing bars and just a subtle hint of blue on their tail feathers. They average about five inches in length and rely on a diet of insects during the summer breeding months before switching to seeds in the fall.
In Southern California, these birds are strictly seasonal visitors, arriving from their wintering grounds in western Mexico around mid-April and heading back south by September. They are highly adapted to the region’s unique landscapes, favoring chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and streamside thickets. They have a well-documented affinity for unburned patches of vegetation within areas recently affected by wildfires, which are often called “burn skips.” During their time in Southern California, males are conspicuous singers that frequently choose the highest exposed branch of a shrub to unleash their brief, rhythmic songs.
They will also readily visit backyard feeders stocked with white proso millet or sunflower seeds, particularly if you live near an open hillside or canyon edge.
