{"id":1633,"date":"2010-12-15T09:30:23","date_gmt":"2010-12-15T15:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=1633"},"modified":"2026-01-31T06:01:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T12:01:27","slug":"lazuli-bunting-males","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/12\/15\/lazuli-bunting-males\/","title":{"rendered":"Lazuli Bunting Males"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LazuliLazuli Bunting male perched on Greasewood – D200, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

In June of 2010 I went camping in the San Rafael Swell area of Utah and I was fortunate to find quite a few Lazuli Buntings in the areas near the campgrounds. The females did not seem to be present but their more subtle coloring does camouflage them well and I may have missed spotting them. The males; however, were present and singing atop shrubs and bushes.<\/p>\n

This male Lazuli Bunting was perched on a Greasewood shrub near the campgrounds by the river.\u00a0The name of this species comes from Lapis Lazuli, a blue\u00a0semiprecious blue gemstone. Lapis Lazuli is one of my favorite gemstones to work with when fashioning jewelry and it goes great with blue jeans.<\/p>\n

\"LazuliLazuli Bunting with sky in the background – D200, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 250,\u00a0 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Male Lazuli Buntings resemble bluebirds but they are smaller and\u00a0the blues are a different hue than the Mountain, Eastern and Western Bluebirds. Lazuli Buntings occur in open, disturbed habitats, thickets and along waterways. They winter from southern Arizona down to southwestern Mexico.<\/p>\n

\"LazuliLazuli Bunting male with Navajo and Entrada sandstone in the background – D200, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 250,\u00a0 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The San Rafael Swell<\/span><\/a> area has abundant formations of Navajo and Entrada sandstone which provides beautiful backgrounds that compliment the Lazuli Buntings coloration. They also have a habit of perching high on top of bushes which helps to give clear views of this species when photographing.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Lazuli Bunting singing with canyon walls in the background – D200, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 250,\u00a0 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, -0.3 EV, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It seemed that the buntings were the most active early in the morning and late afternoon, this image was taken in late afternoon light while the male Lazuli Bunting was singing, the sweet calls bouncing off of the canyon walls. I hope that next year I’ll have many more opportunities with this colorful species.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Lazuli Bunting photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Male Lazuli Buntings resemble bluebirds but they are smaller and the blues are a different hue than the Mountain, Eastern and Western Bluebirds. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":154886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,380,1015,26],"tags":[4004,215,6530,5817,10054,4252,1832,1830,1828,4062,1600,4270,4104,5558,1831,4179],"class_list":["post-1633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-lazuli-buntings","category-san-rafael-swell-area","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bird-id","tag-bunting","tag-buntings","tag-campgrounds","tag-emery-county","tag-entrada-sandstone-2","tag-greasewood","tag-lazuli-bunting","tag-male","tag-navajo-sandstone-2","tag-passerina-amoena","tag-perched","tag-river","tag-sarcobatus-vermiculatus","tag-singing-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-mia-mcpherson-pigweed-4407.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ql","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6192,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/26\/lazuli-buntings-near-the-san-rafael-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":1633,"position":0},"title":"Lazuli Buntings Near The San Rafael River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I have enjoyed photographing Lazuli Buntings (Passerina amoena) near the San Rafael River at the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area. These images were taken in the spring when the males were high on perches singing to attract females.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Morning at the San Rafael River campground, San Rafael Swell, Emery County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/san-rafael-swell-mia-mcpherson-5166.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/san-rafael-swell-mia-mcpherson-5166.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/san-rafael-swell-mia-mcpherson-5166.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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shared so many images yesterday that today I am keeping it simple with one image of a Lazuli Bunting male I photographed high in the Wasatch Mountains last week.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lazuli Bunting male in the Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/lazuli-bunting-male-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-5325.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/lazuli-bunting-male-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-5325.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/lazuli-bunting-male-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-5325.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-juvenile-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-5990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-juvenile-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-5990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-juvenile-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-5990.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-juvenile-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-5990.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70861,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/06\/13\/one-male-lazuli-bunting-sage-and-a-wire-fence\/","url_meta":{"origin":1633,"position":4},"title":"One Male Lazuli Bunting, Sage And A Wire Fence","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When I spotted this sharp-looking, adult male Lazuli Bunting less than 30 feet away from where I sat in a mobile blind on the side of the road I almost jumped with joy.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Lazuli Bunting perched on a metal fence, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-fence-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-4509.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lazuli-bunting-male-fence-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-4509.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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