24 May 1998
The LAZULI BUNTING is a common summer breeder throughout much
of California in riparian stretches, scrub or chaparral, arriving in April
and leaving in August. Spring and fall migrants are widespread but not
usually numerous. Winter records are quite rare.
I have some distant or poorly focused photographs
taken "in the wild" but they aren't worth posting. Instead, I use my shot
of a male banded by Big Sur Ornithology Lab.
The only California records are listed below are (1) my personal "state bird" and (2) those with unusual dates or locales. All my other observations are well within normal status & distributional limits. There may be few or none of these. Those preceded by H were found or co-found by me personally; those preceded by K receive some partial credit (e.g., I was involved in sorting out i.d. of a previously discovered bird or refound a vagrant that had been thought to have left).
My personal Lazuli Bunting records of note:
4/24/68 near The Geysers SON male=my "state bird"See the family page for county abbreviations. All photos & text © 2001 Don Roberson; all rights reserved.
H 4/17/81 Tassajara Rd. MTY male=earliest arrival for N Calif at the time
10/6/84 Carmel R. mouth MTY imm=medium-late fall migrant
H 8/23-24/95 my yard, Pacific Grove MTY 1 imm at feeder=early migrant