While we regularly see and hear the brightly colored male Lazuli Bunting singing his somewhat squeaky song from the tops of bushes and trees at the edge of open fields we see and have had the opportunity to photograph the female only on rare occasion. Softly colored with a light cinnamon breast the female was quietly hanging out in dense foliage listening as a nearby male sang his heart out.

The beauty of the Lazuli Bunting did not escape the early naturalist who named it Passerina amoena, meaning beautiful sparrow.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Lazuli_Bunting/overview

While it was indeed named beautiful sparrow the Lazuli Bunting is actually in the family Cardinaliadae being more related to Cardinals or Grossbeaks.

It was indeed our lucky morning as another female peeks out from a thick tangle of shrub with her best man nearby.

And just for fun, one more shot of the male perched nearby in a cottonwood tree.

And by the way… isn’t Lazuli a fun word to say?