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Bird name:

Varied Bunting

Passerina versicolorOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Cardinals and Grosbeaks (Cardinalidae)
Codes: Common Name: VABU Scientific Name: PASVER ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179152
Least Concern
 
Varied Bunting Breeding Male
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Overview

Varied Bunting: Medium bunting, mostly purple-blue with red wash on throat, breast, back. Nape and eye-rings are red. Bill is gray and slightly curved down. Wings and tail are purple-blue. Eats seeds and insects. Short flights, alternates rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

Range and Habitat

Varied Bunting: Breeds in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body


Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

"spik"

Interesting Facts

 The Varied Bunting is unevenly distributed and inconspicuous, so very little is known about it.

 They spend most of their time concealed in dense desert brush, coming into view only when the male sings from the top of a bush.

 Eggs are polymorphic in color among populations, a rare phenomenon in passerine birds.

 A group of buntings are collectively known as a "decoration", "mural", and "sacrifice" of buntings.


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Irina Rud-Volga

Splitbar
Range Map for Varied Bunting

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Family Cardinals and Grosbeaks (Cardinalidae)_blue
Species Passerina versicolor
Length5 - 5.5 Inches
Wingspan8.25 Inches

Varied Bunting

Varied Bunting: Medium bunting, mostly purple-blue with red wash on throat, breast, back. Nape and eye-rings are red. Bill is gray and slightly curved down. Wings and tail are purple-blue. Eats seeds and insects. Short flights, alternates rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "spik"

● Foraging & Feeding: Varied Bunting: Eats seeds and insects; forages in low, dense vegetation and on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Varied Bunting: Three to four white to pale blue eggs are laid in a nest made of stalks, grass, cotton, snakeskin, and paper, lined with rootlets, grass, and hair, and built in a low tree or bush, usually 2 to 10 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Varied Bunting: Lazuli Bunting is bright blue with a pale cinnamon-brown breast, and white belly and wing-bars; female is dull brown, paler below, and has two pale wing-bars.

Flight Pattern

Short flights close to vegetation, with rapid wing beats alternating with brief periods of wings pulled to sides.
Varied Bunting Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Varied Bunting: Breeds in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCommon but local
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.4 Ounces
Perching-like BodyX
BreastX
The upper front part of a bird.
NapeX
Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX