Look for a varied bunting along the southwest border or in Mexico. See photos of the male and female and learn what the bird eats.
How to Identify a Varied Bunting
Updated on Sep. 04, 2024
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What Does a Varied Bunting Look Like?
Less well-known than its bunting bird family members, the indigo bunting and painted bunting, the male varied bunting is just as stunning. In the breeding season, males are a vibrant purple and red, with a distinctive red eye ring and a black patch near their bill. They are small songbirds, measuring 4 to 5 inches long.
In the non-breeding season, males molt into brownish plumage. Female varied buntings and young males are lighter brown in color, with no visible streaking or wing bars.
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Varied Bunting Range and Habitat
You’ll only find these birds if you head way down to the southwest. Look for them in the summer breeding season along the southern border of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. They are short-distance migrants and are year-round residents in Mexico.
Despite their vibrant colors, this species can be hard to spot because they stay low in dense shubby areas, thorny thickets and woods. Varied buntings forage for insects on the ground, so you probably won’t see them at your bird feeders. They also eat some seeds and berries from plants.
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Diet: What Does a Varied Bunting Eat?
A varied bunting’s diet consists of a variety of foods, including insects such as grasshoppers and beetles, seeds, and cactus fruit. “They’ll also peck into larger fruits, they’ll eat pine seeds, and I’m sure whatever seeds and fruits they find,” says David Wiedenfeld, senior conservation scientist with the American Bird Conservancy. “They’ll eat insects in winter, too, if they find them.”
While David says it might be possible for a varied bunting to visit a feeder because indigo buntings do, he emphasizes that such behavior wouldn’t necessarily be routine. “You could have them, but it’s going to be relatively uncommon, and you’re going to have to be in their range,” he says.
Nesting Habits
Female varied buntings build nests a few feet off the ground, using materials such as grasses and wildflowers. A typical clutch size is two to five eggs, and both parents incubate the eggs and feed young.
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Songs and Calls
Bird sounds courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
A varied bunting’s song can sound a bit disorganized. They let out a series of warbling, sometimes-scratchy notes that change in pitch — David refers to it as “complicated.”
The birds’ calls are less complicated. Listen for a high-pitched chirp or chip sound.
About the Expert
As senior conservation scientist for American Bird Conservancy, David Wiedenfeld has worked on research pertaining to bird populations for decades. He served as director of research at the Sutton Avian Research Center, and he also served as head of the department of vertebrate ecology at the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands. He holds a doctorate in biological science from Florida State University, and his favorite bird is the swallow-tailed kite.
Sources
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Varied Bunting: Life History“
- National Audubon Society Field Guide: “Varied Bunting“
