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<\/p>\nLazuli Buntings are appropriately named after the blue gemstone lapis lazuli. I think it’s a perfect name for such a spectacularly plumaged bird.<\/p>\n
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I photographed these buntings on June 4,\u00a02010 during a camping trip to Utah’s San Rafael Swell. “The Swell” as many of us call it is huge, remote and beautiful so I love it. This image shows just a tiny portion of The Swell where the San Rafael River meanders through a riparian valley carved into those spectacular sedimentary\u00a0rocks. That’s the type of habitat Lazuli Buntings love and\u00a0in early summer 8 years ago they were abundant in the campground where we stayed.<\/p>\n
Ok, back to the Lazuli Buntings of The Swell.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/lazuli-bunting-3485-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"lazuli-bunting-3485-ron-dudley\\"")
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1\/1250, f\/8, ISO 200, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Lazuli Buntings are the western counterpart to the very closely related Indigo Bunting common in the eastern U.S. I spent several wonderful mornings photographing mostly males singing on territory within the deserted campground. Some of the perches were a little scraggly-looking but the beauty of the bird helped to compensate for that.<\/p>\n After two years of age each individual male sings its own specific song, composed of a series of different syllables that no other male strings together in the same way. Since that bird’s song is often\u00a0unique\u00a0to that individual male\u00a0some researchers refer to it\u00a0as an “acoustic barcode”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1600, f\/8, ISO 400, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I’m a little hesitant to include this photo because I’ve posted it before but its my favorite Lazuli Bunting\u00a0image of all time so I couldn’t resist. I found this male perched on new greasewood growth within the campground which was a refreshing alternative to the dead, scraggly perches they usually seemed to prefer.<\/p>\n One of the physical attributes I love about the species is their dramatically bicolored bill. The upper mandible of both sexes\u00a0is black while the lower mandible is a\u00a0very light blue – often appearing almost\u00a0white. I can’t think of any bird I photograph that has this much color contrast in their bicolored bill.<\/p>\n Some populations of Lazuli Buntings are in severe decline, due at least in part to nest parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds. Parasitized Lazuli Bunting nests rarely fledge any of their own young.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lazuli Buntings are appropriately named after the blue gemstone lapis lazuli. I think it’s a perfect name for such a spectacularly plumaged bird.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/lazuli-bunting-3547c-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"lazuli-bunting-3547c-ron-dudley\\"")
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