From Opus

Photo by mmdnje
Atlanta, Georgia, USA, April, 2007

Passerina cyanea

[edit] Identification

L. 5 1/2" (14 cm)
Male:

• Bright blue, almost iridescent plumage (color produced by diffraction)
• Crown is darker with a purple tint
• Wings and tail have some black

Female:

• Plain brown
• Paler beneath

[edit] Similar Species

Blue Grosbeak, which is bigger and has rusty wingbars; Blue Bunting is very similar, but has a dark blue body, brighter blue supercilium and forecrown and is only occasionally found in the USA, in extreme south Texas, as a vagrant.

[edit] Distribution

Breeds throughout the eastern United States east of eastern North Dakota, western Colorado, and western New Mexico. Rare to uncommon west of range. Winters south to Greater Antilles, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela. Accidental vagrant to the UK and Sweden.

Female
Photo by marhowie
Kempner, Hill Country, Texas, USA, April 2009

[edit] Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.^[1]

[edit] Habitat

Brushy slopes, abandoned farmland, old pastures and fields grown to scrub, woodland clearings, and forest edges adjacent to fields.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

Forages in trees, shrubs and on the ground for insects, buds, berries and seeds.

[edit] Breeding

A compact woven cup of leaves and grass is built in bush or sapling in quite thick vegetation, a few feet from the ground. The 3 or 4 white to pale blue eggs are incubated by the female for 12 to 14 days.

[edit] Vocalisation

A fast, lively warble, with each phrase or note repeated twice.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. eNature

• List of references

[edit] External Links