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- Passerina versicolor
Identification
12cm
- Dark purple plumage
- Dark blue head and rump
- Dark red nape
- Blackish wings and tail
- Black around base of bill
Adult female: brown plumage, paler below
Immature similar to adult female
Similar Species
The Lazuli Bunting has wing bars and a smaller bill, while the Indigo Bunting has faint wing bars and faint streaking on the breast, as well as a bill with a straighter top margin (culmen). Painted Bunting has similar structure to the Varied, but the Painted female is greenish rather than brown.
Distribution
North and Central America: ranges from south-eastern Arizona and southern Texas south to Guatemala, including much of Mexico.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
This is a polytypic species consisting of four subspecies:
- P. v. dickeyae:
- P. v. versicolor:
- Southern Texas to southern Mexico (Oaxaca and Guerrero)
- P. v. pulchra:
- Southern Baja California
- P. v. purpurascens:
- Southern Mexico (Chiapas) to central Guatemala
Habitat
Tropical dry forest, desert scrub, desert canyons, thorn-scrub, and riparian edge habitats.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes insects and seeds.
Breeding
It builds an open cup nest low to the ground in scrub; the clutch consists of 3-4 eggs. They are incubated for about 12 days and the young fledge after a further 12-14 days.
References
- Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
- BF Member observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Varied Bunting. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Varied_Bunting
