Blue Bunting, Cyanocompsa parellina

Blue Bunting, Cyanocompsa parellina indigotica. Photograph taken in Copala, Sinaloa, February 2019. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

The Blue Bunting, Cyanocompsa parellina indigotica, is one of three subspecies of Blue Bunting, all of which are found in Mexico. They are a member of the Cardinalidae Family of Cardinals and Allies, which has forty-nine members placed in fourteen genera, and the sole global species of the Cyanocompsa Genus. In Mexico they are known as azulejito.

The Blue Bunting are sexually dimorphic with the males being slightly larger than the females and having an overall dark blue coloration, with a light sky-blue forehead that transitions to deeper blue as the base of the crown, an area in front of and behind the eye that is blackish, a bright blue cheek patch, a bright ultramarine shoulders and rump, with various shades of black and blue chins, throats, breast, belly, upperparts and wings. Their bill is heavily rounded and blackish in color with a pale bluish-gray lower mandible, their iris is dark brown, and their legs and feet are blackish-brown. The females are a uniform dull brownish, with darker primaries and secondaries, a warmer and more rufescent on belly.

The Blue Bunting is non-migratory and found in arid environments along forest edges, scrubby areas, within the undergrowth of tall forests and within thickets. They feed in pairs; however, the components of their diet have not been determined. They have been poorly studied and very little is known about their biology and behavioral patterns.

The Blue Bunting is found within both the Atlantic and Pacific Slopes from Nuevo León south to Nicaragua and from central Sinaloa south to southwest Chiapas. The indigotica subspecies is found form central Sinaloa south to southern Oaxaca and the extreme southwestern Chiapas on the Pacific Slope at elevations up to 1,800 m (5,900 feet).

The Blue Bunting is difficult to observe in the wild due to their dark coloration and secretive habits. The males are easy to identify; the females can easily be confused with the Blue Seedeater, Amaurospiza concolor (small bill), and the Varied Bunting, Passerina versicolor (duller in color, smaller bill).

From a conservation perspective the Blue Bunting is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Believed to be capable of toleration of habitat modifications by human development.