GAP Analysis Predicted Distribution Map

Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena)

Species Code: PAAMO

Legend:
= Core Habitat
= Marginal Habitat

Breeding Range Map
The green area shows the predicted habitats for breeding only. The habitats were identified using 1991 satellite imagery, Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA), other datasets and experts throughout the state, as part of the Washington Gap Analysis Project. Habitats used during non-breeding months and migratory rest-stops were not mapped.

Metadata (Data about data or how the map was made)

Click to enlarge distribution map

Map with Breeding Bird Atlas records

Other maps & Information:

Breeding Bird Atlas
NatureMapping observations
during breeding season
NatureMapping observations
throughout the year

This species is common in eastern Washington in riparian areas, shrubby growth in draws, and in open,shrubby forests, especially on canyon slopes. It is locally common in the Fort Lewis (Pierce County) area, along the Columbia River in shrubby prairie vegetation, brush wetlands, and clearcuts. Elsewhere in western Washington, it is a local and rare breeder, such as in Lewis, Siamania, Skagit, and Whatcom Counties. It is a local and uncommon breeder at higher (above 5000 feet) elevations in eastern Washington.

Core zones were those below and including Interior Douglas-fir (east side) and the Woodland/Prairie Mosaic, Puget Sound Douglas-fir, and Willamette Valley zones (west side), as well as peripheral and local in the Western Hemlock zone. The Ponderosa Pine and Oak zones were all good habitats except bare ground,developed areas, and non-irrigated agriculture. Good habitats in the Woodland/Prairie Mosaic and Interior Douglas-fir zones were agriculture, water/wetlands, forest openings and clearings, hardwood forest,and mixed forest; open conifer forests were adequate. The Puget Sound Douglas-fir and Western Hemlock zones were treated similarly, except that all forests were excluded. In all zones, wooded parks were adequate.

Most Lazuli Bunting are concentrated on the Fort Lewis prairie and in southwestern King County (BBA data); in the plains around Vancouver, and along the Columbia River in Clark and Skamania Counties. Clearcuts in neighboring areas also support buntings, and smaller populations occur locally, e.g., along the Skagit and Cowlitz Rivers. High elevation breeding records are also known, though much less common. Jewett et al. (l953) document breeders above 4000 feet in the Blue Mountains and Gilligan et al (l994) document this species to 6500 feet in the Oregon Cascades and Siskiyu Mountains. A territorial pair in a sub-alpine bog at 5200 feet in the Pasayten Wilderness (Okanogan County) was apparently nesting alongside Lincoln's Sparrows in July l995, and breeders have been reported from high on Russel Ridge north of Rimrock Lake (Yakima County). In Washington, Breeding Bird Survey data show a significant population increase of 7.8% per year from l982 to l991.

Translated from the Washington Gap Analysis Bird Volume by Uchenna Bright
Text edited by Gussie Litwer
Webpage designed by Dave Lester