Wildlife Wednesday — Lazuli Buntings

By Andy Ames

It seems like Lazuli Buntings have been a little more common this year. These beautiful birds have a finch-like appearance but are more closely related to cardinals and grosbeaks. Males feature a distinctive blue with white belly, orange chest and black mask. Females are a more subdued light brown with a slight blue tinge and pale chest and wing bars. Lazuli Buntings thrive in burnt areas as well as shrubby hillsides and along streams. They forage in the understory looking for caterpillars, ants, beetles, and other bugs as well as berries and seeds. To access grass seeds they will hop up and bend over the blade and wrestle it to the ground as seen here.

The Estes Valley is in their breeding grounds. Females build a cup shaped nest low in bushes made up of grasses, bark, and leaves all held together by threads from spiders and tent caterpillars. Males defend their nesting territory while feeding is done by the female alone or both parents together. Just before migrating south for the winter, Lazuli Buntings flock together and start their annual molting of feathers. Unlike other birds who molt either in their breeding or wintering grounds, Lazuli Buntings migrate to an intermediate location to finish their molt. There they stay for a couple of months feeding on monsoonal insects around the American SW, before continuing their way further south to winter along the Mexican Pacific coast.

Lazuli Buntings are truly one of the exceptional summer visitors to the Estes Valley.