Dakota Reflections
Lazuli Buntings
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Photo of the Day- July 2, 2020
The Lazuli Bunting is found in western states and this little guy was photographed in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the eastern edge of its range in the United States. I don't see them around Bismarck. This beautiful bird is named after the deep blue semi-precious stone, lapis lazuli, which has been mined and turned into jewelry since early civilizations existed. Male Lazuli Buntings like to perch on the tops of trees and sing. One would think that they would be easily photographed but this bird has been a challenge for me.
2020 Photographs
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 10, 2020
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 20, 2020
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 20, 2020
The lazuli bunting is a North American songbird named for the gemstone lapis lazuli. The male is easily recognized by its bright blue head and back (lighter than the closely related indigo bunting), its conspicuous white wingbars, and its light rusty breast and white belly. The color pattern may suggest the eastern and western bluebirds, but the smaller size (13–14 cm or 5–5.5 inches long), wingbars, and short and conical bunting bill quickly distinguish it. The female is brown, grayer above and warmer underneath, told from the female indigo bunting by two thin and pale wingbars and other plumage details. The song is a high, rapid, strident warble, similar to that of the indigo bunting but longer and with less repetition. Lazuli buntings breed mostly west of the 100th meridian from southern Canada to northern Texas, central New Mexico and Arizona, and southern California. On the Pacific coast their breeding range extends south to extreme northwestern Baja California. They migrate to southeastern Arizona and Mexico. Their habitat is brushy areas and sometimes weedy pastures, generally well-watered, and sometimes in towns. These birds eat mostly seeds and insects. They may feed conspicuously on the ground or in bushes, but singing males are often very elusive in treetops. This bird makes a loose cup nest of grasses and rootlets placed in a bush. It lays three or four pale blue eggs. In the eastern and southern part of its range, it often hybridizes with the indigo bunting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazuli_bunting
Lazuli Bunting
Burleigh County, North Dakota
July 30, 2020
Lazuli Bunting
Burleigh County, North Dakota
July 31, 2020
Lazuli Bunting
Burleigh County, North Dakota
July 31, 2020
Lazuli Bunting
Burleigh County, North Dakota
July 31, 2020
Lazuli Bunting
Burleigh County, North Dakota
Photo of the Day- August 3, 2020
2021 Photographs
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 3, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 4, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 5, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 19, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 19, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 23, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 23, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 23, 2021
A Magical Moment!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
I had tried for several years to arrange a time when I could photograph in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park with Mike Lalonde. Mike had taught photography at Bismarck State College for years and he and I would occasionally come across each other while doing photography in sloughs near Bismarck. We were able to connect in late June and were photographing red-headed woodpeckers when this beautiful Lazuli Bunting landed 20 yards in front of us. We already had our long lenses on tripods, there was great morning light with a dark background and we were able to photograph a bird that we had rarely been able to!
See how he grabbed several shafts for grass with his claws and then grabbed another shaft of grass with his beak!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
He then grabbed another shaft of grass with his claws and had seeds in his mouth!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
What a beautiful bird!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
He grabbed the grass again!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
Gorgeous!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
How did he get the seed?
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
He used his beak as a comb and stripped the seed from the shaft of grass!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
He moved the seed close to his mouth!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
He got the seed!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
A well-fed Lazuli!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
Working for more seeds!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
Back view!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
Beautiful!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
Side view!
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 24, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 25, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 25, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 25, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 25, 2021
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
June 25, 2021
Lovely!
Lazuli Bunting
Burleigh County, North Dakota
June 15, 2022
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
July 9, 2022
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
July 9, 2022
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
July 10, 2022
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
July 10, 2022
Lazuli Bunting
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
July 10, 2022