Passerina amoenalazuli bunting

Ge­o­graphic Range

Lazuli buntings, Passe­rina amoena, live pre­dom­i­nantly through­out west­ern North Amer­ica. Their ge­o­graphic range ex­tends south­ward from south­ern Canada to Mex­ico. Lazuli buntings also are con­sid­ered va­grant in Cuba, as sight­ings are rare.

Lazuli buntings mi­grate sea­son­ally, and the en­tire ex­panse of their ge­o­graphic range is split into breed­ing and non-breed­ing ranges. North­ern­most parts of their breed­ing range begin in south­ern and south­west­ern areas of Canada, in­clud­ing areas of British Co­lum­bia, Al­berta, Saskatchewan, and Man­i­toba. East­ern­most parts of their breed­ing range in­clude areas of Ok­la­homa, Kansas, Ne­braska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. This breed­ing range ex­tends south­ward into north­ern Ari­zona and New Mex­ico and west­ward to the Pa­cific coast­line of Cal­i­for­nia. Breed­ing areas along the Pa­cific coast­line ex­tend south­ward into north­west­ern areas of the Yu­catan penin­sula.

The non-breed­ing or win­ter­ing range con­sists of areas in south cen­tral Ari­zona that ex­tend along the west­ern coast of Mex­ico, not in­clud­ing the Yu­catan penin­sula. (Cor­man and Wise-Ger­vais, 2005; Greene, et al., 2014)

Habi­tat

The habi­tat of lazuli buntings con­sists mainly of ri­par­ian areas, open wood­land areas, and shrubby desert areas. They also are found in sub­ur­ban gar­dens and in fencerow habi­tats (along agri­cul­tural fields) dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son. Their num­bers are pos­i­tively af­fected by re­cent burns, as well.

Lazuli buntings may be pre­sent in old­field habi­tats, fencerows, agri­cul­tural plan­ta­tions, and other early suc­ces­sional areas dur­ing mi­gra­tion and on win­ter­ing grounds. Young, sec­ondary growth forests also are fre­quented by these birds. In Mex­ico, they are even found in garbage dumps. (Amer­i­can Or­nithol­o­gists' Union, 1983; Cham­bers, et al., 2011; Greene, et al., 2014)

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

The typ­i­cal mass of lazuli buntings ranges from 13 g to 18 g, de­pend­ing on age and sex. The av­er­age mass of fe­male lazuli buntings in/after their sec­ond year is 14.8-14.9 g. Male lazuli buntings are typ­i­cally 0.8 g heav­ier than fe­male lazuli buntings. Male lazuli buntings have an av­er­age mass of 15.4-15.8 in/after their sec­ond year. Wing length of male lazuli buntings ranges from 6.7 cm to 7.5 cm, while fe­male lazuli bunting wing length ranges from 6.4 cm to 7.3 cm. On av­er­age, males have a wing length 0.4 cm longer than fe­males. Body length of lazuli buntings ranges from 13 cm to 15 cm.

Lazuli buntings are named for the vi­brant, blue plumage of males aged two years or older. Both newly-hatched male and fe­male lazuli buntings have grey-brown down feath­ers pre­sent. An ini­tial molt will of­ten­times re­sult in buff-col­ored feath­ers re­plac­ing the natal plumage. A sec­ond molt will of­ten­times re­veal more dis­tinct char­ac­ter­is­tics about lazuli buntings. Blue col­oration can be seen in males fol­low­ing a sec­ond molt, but the plumage re­mains rel­a­tively buff. Buff feath­ers are worn down to re­veal col­oration is pre­sent in more ma­ture buntings. An­other molt usu­ally oc­curs and re­sults in deeper, ma­ture col­oration. Ma­ture male feath­ers are a rich blue color with buff tips in the dor­sal area and white, buff-tipped feath­ers in the ven­tral area. Males have a cin­na­mon-col­ored throat. Feath­ers of this molt are often buff-tipped. Fe­male buntings also have these buff-tipped feath­ers after this third molt, but are dor­sally more of a slate blue, and more of a basic brown in ven­tral areas. In gen­eral, fe­male col­oration is duller than male col­oration in this species. (Greene, et al., 2014; Young, 1991)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes colored or patterned differently
  • male more colorful
  • Range mass
    13 to 18 g
    0.46 to 0.63 oz
  • Average mass
    15 g
    0.53 oz
  • Range length
    13 to 15 cm
    5.12 to 5.91 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

Lazuli buntings are con­sid­ered polyg­y­nan­drous. Both male and fe­male lazuli buntings have been ob­served mat­ing with mul­ti­ple part­ners. Male lazuli buntings ar­rive at breed­ing grounds be­fore the fe­males, and de­fend their claimed ter­ri­to­ries from other males. Fe­males ar­rive later and begin build­ing nests within two weeks of ar­rival. Av­er­age nest heights are ca. 1.08 m above the ground. Grasses and bark are used to form the outer parts of the nest, and the nest is later lined with mam­mal fur or softer grasses. There have been some cases of in­di­vid­u­als using spi­der webs or cater­pil­lar silk to en­ve­lope the out­sides of nests. Nests typ­i­cally are 9.25 cm wide and 7.1 cm high and are con­sid­ered thick-walled. Males use song to at­tract po­ten­tial mates. More specif­i­cally, males will make a “tseep” call to en­tice fe­males. Males will dis­play their plumage by ex­pand­ing their wings. Fe­males will chirp with a “ti-ti-ti-ti” in re­sponse to this be­hav­ior in males, and may lift their tails in a ver­ti­cal man­ner po­ten­tially to in­vite the males for mat­ing. Fe­males may also quiver their wings for this same pur­pose. Both males and fe­males have been known to mate with other part­ners. (Greene, et al., 2014; Johns­gard, 2009)

Lazuli buntings often breed in lower lay­ers of wooded areas sur­rounded by herba­ceous veg­e­ta­tion. The breed­ing sea­son runs from late May/early June through late July/early Au­gust. In­cu­ba­tion typ­i­cally lasts 12 days, with fe­males pro­duc­ing 3 to 5 pale, bluish-white eggs. After in­cu­ba­tion, chicks nor­mally hatch be­gin­ning early in the day, and all chicks typ­i­cally hatch within the same day. Some­times the hatch­ing process can take up to 2 days. Chicks emerge from their eggs naked save for some light grey down pre­sent on typ­i­cally feath­ered areas, and they have an av­er­age mass of 1.3 g upon hatch­ing. Skin is an or­ange-yel­low color, and beaks are yel­low. They use “cheep” calls for food and at­ten­tion. Both males and fe­males will feed fledg­lings and young birds. Lazuli bunting chicks reach fledg­ling stage typ­i­cally around 8 to 11 days. Usu­ally within this time, fledg­lings will fly from the nest, but re­main rel­a­tively close. Male and fe­male birds may con­tinue to feed the fledg­lings, usu­ally for at least 2 weeks after leav­ing the nest. Pairs of this species often can dou­ble-brood within one breed­ing sea­son. It is pos­si­ble for year­lings to mate, and fe­male year­lings often do. Males reach re­pro­duc­tive ma­tu­rity within 1 to 2 years of age. Males new to a breed­ing area often will have to con­test with re­turn­ing males. (Greene, et al., 2014; Johns­gard, 2009)

  • Breeding interval
    Pairs of this species can often double-brood within one breeding season which usually occurs within a month of the first brood.
  • Breeding season
    The breeding season is estimated to begin starting late May to early June and last through late July to early August. Incubation typically lasts 12 days, with females producing 3 to 5 pale, bluish-white eggs.
  • Range eggs per season
    3 to 5
  • Average time to hatching
    12 days
  • Range fledging age
    8 to 11 days
  • Average fledging age
    13 days
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    1 to 1 years
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    1 to 2 years
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    2 years

Fe­male lazuli buntings do the ma­jor­ity of brood­ing. Within two days of chicks hatch­ing, fe­males have been ob­served spend­ing 73% of their days brood­ing. This time in­vest­ment by fe­males de­creases rapidly, and by day 5, fe­males have been spend only 36% of their days brood­ing. While fe­males brood, males have been ob­served feed­ing the fe­males, though this char­ac­ter­is­tic is highly vari­able. Both males and fe­males will feed their al­tri­cial young, though rates of feed­ing by ei­ther males or fe­males will vary. Males will pro­tect fe­males through­out the breed­ing and brood­ing processes. (Greene, et al., 2014)

  • Parental Investment
  • altricial
  • male parental care
  • female parental care
  • pre-fertilization
    • protecting
      • male
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • male
  • pre-weaning/fledging
    • provisioning
      • male
      • female
    • protecting
      • male
  • pre-independence
    • provisioning
      • male
      • female
    • protecting
      • male

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Band­ing stud­ies of lazuli buntings help de­ter­mine in­di­vid­ual bunting ages, and a record high of 9.9 years was re­ported in Idaho in 1981. Cur­rently, there are no records on av­er­age lifes­pan in cap­tiv­ity or ex­pected lifes­pan in cap­tiv­ity or in the wild for lazuli buntings. (US Ge­o­log­i­cal Sur­vey, 2016)

Be­hav­ior

The main form of lo­co­mo­tion on the ground of lazuli buntings is a hop­ping move­ment. For longer dis­tances, the birds use rapid wing beats for flights and take a straight flight pat­tern in most cases. After first mi­grat­ing to breed­ing areas, males begin look­ing for food. They tend to be non-vo­cal at this point. After a few days, they begin to fight with each other and be­come in­creas­ingly vocal with one an­other. This be­hav­ior often sig­ni­fies a male bird claim­ing ter­ri­tory. Males pro­tect their ter­ri­to­ries from other males. Males' songs tend to get more ag­gres­sive when an­other male en­ters a ter­ri­tory. This can be ac­com­pa­nied by rapid and un­even flight pat­terns used to chase of other male birds. Some phys­i­cal in­ter­ac­tion oc­curs be­tween males of this species, as they fight one an­other by lock­ing feet to­gether and peck­ing one an­other. Males often perch in an erect man­ner, flat­ten their body feath­ers, raise their crown feath­ers, and flick their tails when their ter­ri­tory is threat­ened by an­other male.

Lazuli buntings not only as­so­ci­ate with mem­bers of their own species, but also as­so­ci­ate with other bird species such as chip­ping spar­rows Spizella passe­rina and mi­grat­ing war­blers. These in­ter­ac­tions are more specif­i­cally re­lated to mi­gra­tion, as they have been seen be­gin­ning their spring mi­gra­tion in this pat­tern. In­di­vid­ual buntings may group in clus­ters dur­ing breed­ing sea­son, po­ten­tially as an at­tempt to en­tice year­lings to brood in groups as well. Mi­gra­tions from breed­ing ter­ri­to­ries begin from July to Au­gust. The birds take a break from their mi­gra­tion south­ward to fin­ish molt­ing, a process they began be­fore de­part­ing breed­ing areas. Upon com­ple­tion of their molts, the birds will con­tinue their mi­gra­tion south­ward into ter­ri­to­ries in and around west­ern Mex­ico. Mi­gra­tion oc­curs pre­dom­i­nantly at night. While not in flight, the birds may rest. While sleep­ing, these birds turn their heads around and rest them upon their scapu­lar tract. In­di­vid­u­als preen them­selves mul­ti­ple times a day, a be­hav­ior that be­gins by the time the birds are a week old. They preen by rub­bing their bills through their feath­ers.

There is a rec­og­nized zone of hy­bridiza­tion be­tween lazuli buntings and the closely-re­lated in­digo buntings (Passe­rina cyanea). ("Life His­to­ries of North Amer­i­can Car­di­nals, Gros­beaks, Buntings, Towhees, Finches, Spar­rows, and Al­lies Order Passer­i­formes: Fam­ily Fringill­i­dae PART ONE Gen­era Rich­mon­dena through Pip­ilo (part)", 1968; Greene, et al., 2014; Young, 1991)

  • Range territory size
    14000 (low) m^2
  • Average territory size
    50000 m^2

Home Range

Home ranges for lazuli buntings range from 1.4-5 ha. These are es­tab­lished in the first few weeks of the breed­ing sea­sons. Even fe­males de­fend ter­ri­to­ries (via chirp­ing) in the breed­ing sea­son. (Greene, et al., 2014)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion styles of lazuli buntings are heav­ily vocal, much like in­digo buntings (Passe­rina cyanea). Males use vocal cues in mat­ing and ter­ri­to­r­ial in­ter­ac­tions. Fe­males re­spond to both vi­sual cues, such a plumage pat­terns of males, and au­di­tory cues, such as the songs used by males dur­ing mat­ing at­tempts. Thomp­son (1976) de­scribed the calls of male lazuli bunting in de­tail. Sounds made by chicks in­clude cheep, chip, churr, and peep sounds, and are used as vo­cal­iza­tions to sig­nify beg­ging and dis­tress. Thomp­son dis­tin­guishes song syl­la­bles by var­i­ous mea­sure­ments, in­clud­ing am­pli­tude, fre­quency, and length of syl­la­ble.

Vo­cal­iza­tion of these syl­la­bles may be used in re­sponse to preda­tors, to prompt mat­ing, to (re)claim ter­ri­tory, or to alert oth­ers of preda­tors. Songs of males are quite com­plex, last­ing about 2 sec­onds. They can vo­cal­ize up to 140 syl­la­bles, with each syl­la­ble made 2-5 times be­fore mov­ing on. The end og the song is usu­ally a buzzing or beep­ing.

Fe­male buntings have been known to im­i­tate the sounds of chicks to elicit a re­sponse from them. How­ever, fe­males do not pro­duce songs, as males do. (Emlen, et al., 1975; Greene, et al., 2014; Thomp­son, 1976)

Food Habits

Lazuli buntings are known to be fru­giv­o­rous, graniv­o­rous, and in­sec­tiv­o­rous. Lazuli buntings feed on seeds from cer­tain grasses, such as nee­dle grass of the genus Stipa, wild oats (Avena fatua), and ca­nary grass (Phalaris ca­narien­sis). Lazuli buntings have also been known to eat seeds of miner’s let­tuce of the genus Motia. Lazuli buntings also con­sume arthro­pods such as grasshop­pers, ants, bees, bee­tles, cater­pil­lars, grasshop­pers, and other in­sects re­garded as true bugs. Lazuli buntings have been seen feed­ing from bird feed­ers. ("Life His­to­ries of North Amer­i­can Car­di­nals, Gros­beaks, Buntings, Towhees, Finches, Spar­rows, and Al­lies Order Passer­i­formes: Fam­ily Fringill­i­dae PART ONE Gen­era Rich­mon­dena through Pip­ilo (part)", 1968; Greene, et al., 2014)

  • Animal Foods
  • insects
  • terrestrial non-insect arthropods
  • Plant Foods
  • seeds, grains, and nuts
  • fruit

Pre­da­tion

Preda­tors of lazuli buntings in­clude rap­tors such as Cooper’s hawk (Ac­cip­iter cooperii) and the sharp-shinned hawk (Ac­cip­iter stria­tus). Other species such as do­mes­tic cats (Felis catus) at­tack buntings at birds feed­ers. Eggs and chicks are preyed upon by other birds, like Amer­i­can crows Corvus brachyrhyn­chos, com­mon ravens Corvus corax, and black-billed mag­pies Pica pica. Snakes and sev­eral mam­mal species (red squir­rels Tami­as­ci­u­rus hud­son­i­cus, chip­munks Tamias, and weasels) also con­sume eggs and young. Of­ten­times, in­di­vid­u­als will elicit a “seet” sound­ing call in re­sponse to a preda­tor. (Greene, et al., 2014)

Ecosys­tem Roles

Within an ecosys­tem, lazuli buntings can func­tion as hosts for in­ter­nal par­a­sites such as cer­tain pro­to­zoans of the Leu­co­cy­to­zoon genus (Wood and Her­man, 1943). Feather mites have also been pre­sent in lazuli buntings, specif­i­cally species of the Proc­to­phyl­lodes genus (Mc­Clure, 1989).

Lazuli bunting nests have also been par­a­sitized by brown-headed cow­birds (Molothrus ater). Brown-headed cow­birds prac­tice brood par­a­sitism, and re­move eggs from host species’ nests in order to re­place it with their own (King, 1954).

The pres­ence of lazuli buntings in grass­lands has been cor­re­lated with the in­ten­sity of mon­soon sea­sons in areas that ex­pe­ri­ence mon­soons. This im­plies that the pres­ence of lazuli buntings in grass­land areas dur­ing cer­tain sea­sons func­tions as an en­vi­ron­men­tal in­di­ca­tor (Cham­bers et al., 2011). The en­vi­ron­men­tal im­pact of lazuli buntings is oth­er­wise yet to be de­ter­mined. (Cham­bers, et al., 2011; King, 1954; Mc­Clure, 1989; Wood and Her­man, 1943)

Com­men­sal/Par­a­sitic Species
  • brown-headed cow­birds (Molothrus ater)
  • feather mites (Proc­to­phyl­lodes)
  • pro­to­zoans (Leu­co­cy­to­zoon)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

No ben­e­fi­cial im­pacts on the econ­omy due to lazuli buntings have been found.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

No neg­a­tive im­pacts on the econ­omy due to lazuli buntings have been found.

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

The IUCN Red List des­ig­nates Passe­rina amoena as a species of “Least Con­cern.” Lazuli buntings are con­sid­ered “Pro­tected” by the US Fish and Wildlife Ser­vice, as des­ig­nated by the Mi­gra­tory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. This act es­sen­i­tally pro­tects all mi­gra­tory birds from hunt­ing, sales, and gen­eral ha­rass­ment. Lazuli buntings were given no spe­cial sta­tus in Michi­gan’s list, CITES ap­pen­dices, and the US en­dan­gered species list.

These birds are cap­tured on their win­ter­ing grounds and sold as pets. They oc­ca­sion­ally are vic­tims of win­dow-strikes. How­ever, this species is re­ported to be in­creas­ing, so no major man­age­ment ac­tions have been en­acted for lazuli buntings. (BirdLife In­ter­na­tional, 2012; Greene, et al., 2014)

Con­trib­u­tors

Saman­tha De­mery (au­thor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Alex At­wood (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Marisa Dameron (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Karen Pow­ers (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

Neotropical

living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.

World Map

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

agricultural

living in landscapes dominated by human agriculture.

altricial

young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.

arboreal

Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

chaparral

Found in coastal areas between 30 and 40 degrees latitude, in areas with a Mediterranean climate. Vegetation is dominated by stands of dense, spiny shrubs with tough (hard or waxy) evergreen leaves. May be maintained by periodic fire. In South America it includes the scrub ecotone between forest and paramo.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

desert or dunes

in deserts low (less than 30 cm per year) and unpredictable rainfall results in landscapes dominated by plants and animals adapted to aridity. Vegetation is typically sparse, though spectacular blooms may occur following rain. Deserts can be cold or warm and daily temperates typically fluctuate. In dune areas vegetation is also sparse and conditions are dry. This is because sand does not hold water well so little is available to plants. In dunes near seas and oceans this is compounded by the influence of salt in the air and soil. Salt limits the ability of plants to take up water through their roots.

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

female parental care

parental care is carried out by females

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

frugivore

an animal that mainly eats fruit

granivore

an animal that mainly eats seeds

herbivore

An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.

insectivore

An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

male parental care

parental care is carried out by males

migratory

makes seasonal movements between breeding and wintering grounds

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

omnivore

an animal that mainly eats all kinds of things, including plants and animals

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

polygynandrous

the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.

riparian

Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody (usually, but not always, a river or stream).

scrub forest

scrub forests develop in areas that experience dry seasons.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

suburban

living in residential areas on the outskirts of large cities or towns.

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

territorial

defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

visual

uses sight to communicate

Ref­er­ences

Pub­li­ca­tions of the United States Na­tional Mu­seum. Life His­to­ries of North Amer­i­can Car­di­nals, Gros­beaks, Buntings, Towhees, Finches, Spar­rows, and Al­lies Order Passer­i­formes: Fam­ily Fringill­i­dae PART ONE Gen­era Rich­mon­dena through Pip­ilo (part). 237. Wash­ing­ton, D.C: Smith­son­ian In­sti­tu­tion Press. 1968.

Amer­i­can Or­nithol­o­gists' Union, 1983. Check-list of North Amer­i­can Birds. Wash­ing­ton, D.C: Amer­i­can Or­nithol­o­gists' Union.

Baker, M. 1996. Fe­male buntings from hy­bridiz­ing pop­u­la­tions pre­fer con­spe­cific males. The Wil­son Bul­letin, 108/4: 771-775.

Baker, M., J. Boy­lan. 1995. A cat­a­log of song syl­la­bles of in­digo and lazuli buntings. The Con­dor, 97/4: 1028-1040.

Baker, M., J. Boy­lan. 1999. Singing be­hav­ior, mat­ing as­so­ci­a­tions and re­pro­duc­tive suc­cess in a pop­u­la­tion of hy­bridiz­ing lazuli and in­digo buntings. The Con­dor, 101/3: 493-504.

Barve, S., F. La­Sorte. 2016. Fruit­ing sea­son length re­stricts global dis­tri­b­u­tion of fe­male–only parental care in fru­giv­o­rous passer­ine birds. PLoS ONE, 11/5: e0154871. Ac­cessed Sep­tem­ber 12, 2016 at http://​journals.​plos.​org/​plosone/​article?​id=10.​1371%2Fjournal.​pone.​0154871.

Belet­sky, L. 2006. Birds of the World. Bal­ti­more, Mary­land: The Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­sity Press.

BirdLife In­ter­na­tional, 2012. "The IUCN Red List of Threat­ened Species 2012: e.T22723948A39972518" (On-line). Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 06, 2016 at http://​dx.​doi.​org/​10.​2305/​IUCN.​UK.​2012-1.​RLTS.​T22723948A39972518.​en.

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