The colorful orange-breasted
bunting “Passerina leclancherii” is a species of bunting belongs to family
Cardinalidae. The orange breasted bunting endemic to Mexico, where its natural
habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical
dry shrubland. The Orange-breasted Bunting ranges along the Pacific slope from
extreme southern Nayarit south to western Chiapas, and inland to western
Puebla. It is more abundant in second growth than in undisturbed forest. It is
found from sea level up to about 1200 m in arid habitats, including thorn
forest, open woodland, and the edges of roadsides and agricultural clearings.
The species was introduced to
Oahu in 1941 but did not persist, and was extirpated by 1952. This species has
a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable
under the range size criterion. The bird’s population trend appears to be
stable, and hence the species is evaluated as Least Concern. This species has a
sweet, lilting song that you might enjoy. Not surprisingly, they are popular in
the cage bird trade is a bit smaller length 12.5 cm and shorter-billed than
Rose-bellied Bunting (Passerina rositae), with which it may occur, and both
sexes of Orange-breasted are yellow below.
Orange-breasted bunting is also
known as the orange-bellied bunting or as Leclancher's bunting, seemingly
glow-in-the-dark passerine resides in dry forests and shrubland in the tropics
and subtropics. The adult birds are blue above with a mossy green crown and
mantle, and are yellow below with an orange wash across the breast. Hence, Females
birds are immatures and entirely green above, with yellow lores, throat, and
underparts are yellow, shaded with gray along the sides and chest. The birds
feed on seeds in the winter and insects in the summer, and have correspondingly
smaller bills than most cardinalids. The cardinalids are also known for being
dimorphic, and the males often have dramatic, brilliant coloring although the
females are very beautiful as well. This is migratory bird, breeding in North
America and wintering in Central and South America.
