Lark Buntings in Texas

Lark Bunting

Found this Lark Bunting in its basic plumage which has a “sparrow-like” appearance to it. This wasn’t an easy bird to identify and I spent more time studying the pictures of these birds than any other birds on my Texas trip. Lark Bunting – LIFER (CHECK)!!

Tree inundated with Lark Buntings

The 2nd morning on the ranch we had slow flakes on the ground and the lighting for bird photography was horrible. But my goal for the day was to find a Roadrunner (which I never did find) and I just located a few species from the previous day. That was until I located this tree inundated with little brown jobs!! Something was different about these birdies and what I found most noticeable was the white wing bars in a few of the birds.

Lark Buntings

Slowly I would take a picture and then move forward as they were fluffing up and preening their feathers. Poof!! These birds suddenly all took flight in a group and flew further than I could see. Actually studying their wing pattern while in flight is what finally gave them away in being the Lark Bunting.

Lark Buntings flying away

After the cloud of birds flew away, I noticed a few individuals still sitting on the cactus. I approached closer with camera in hand and noticed these guys also had many cute markings on them. I still had not figured out what species it was but my heart was pumping with excitement.

Last Lark Bunting on Cactus

I kept moving closer and closer to this one individual before it decided to fly away. The Lark Bunting is a species that I didn’t expect to find in Texas but I am happy to say they are now on my Life List!!

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