Distribution

Breeding Range

Figure 1 . Widespread throughout North America north of Mexico and south of coniferous forest region, from northern Great Plains eastward to Atlantic seaboard, in s. Manitoba, s. Ontario, sw. Quebec, s. Maine, and s. New Brunswick south to s. Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and e. Texas, the Gulf coast and c. Florida (Amer. Ornithol. Union 1998, Sibley 2000, USGS 2004a). Region of greatest abundance in Arkansas, Missouri, s. Illinois and Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, and in Virginia and North Carolina. Local in summer in s. Utah, s. California, and s. British Columbia; smaller numbers in northeastern United States (Figs. 1, 2).

Figure 2, regional abundance based on roadside Breeding Bird Surveys (USGS 2004a), does not include certain local breeding populations such as Grand Canyon, AZ. Buntings occasionally turn up far from their usual summer, winter and migratory regions, in Pacific Northwest, central Quebec and Newfoundland and the Revillagigedo Islands (Socorro I.; 18.7° N 110.9° W). In Arizona—in Grand Canyon National Park, has bred since 1964; on lower Colorado River, common since 1970s, at least 55 singing males present in 1997 and successful breeding observed (Monson and Phillips 1981, Rosenberg et al. 1991). In California generally scarce, most regular at South Fork Kern River Valley, Mono Lake, Monterey Co. and San Diego (Beedy and Granholm 1985, Robertson and Tenney 1993, Small 1994, BBL).

Details for other regions, at periphery of range:

Maritimes, Canada (Erskine 1992: Rare and local sw. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; newly established populations in late 1970s. May be increasing as climate warms.

Quebec (Labonté and Dauphin 1996): breeds primarily south of about 46°N in deciduous forest of St. Lawrence watershed, primarily s.-central regions. Localized distribution north of 47°N in deciduous forest patches. Rare east of 70°W. Not known to breed on Magdalen Is. or Anitcosti I.

Ontario (Rising 1987; http://www.birdsontario.org): Roughly southern third of province—Great Lakes/St. Lawrence forest region (deciduous and mixed woods, not boreal forest), generally south of about 46°N. Scattered breeding north to about 50°N in pockets of suitable deciduous forest habitat.

North Dakota (http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/bbofnd/species/5980.htm): Primarily eastern third of state, and central Missouri River valley. Most common in the Pembina Hills, in wooded deltaic sand area of w. Pembina Co., in wooded valleys along the Red River and its tributaries throughout the Agassiz Lake Plain, and along the Sheyenne River valley.

Manitoba (Holland et al. 2003): primarily southern reaches of province, south of Lake Winnepeg; most numerous in and near Agassiz and Sandilands Provincial Forests in southeast, and locally northward to Winnipeg River. Farther west, occurs locally along Red and Assiniboine rivers, Spruce Woods and Brandon Hills area, and northward to Riding Mountain National Park.

Saskatchwan (Smith 1996): rare and local summer resident (occasional breeder?) southeastern regions, mainly eastern and central Qu'Appelle Valley.

Florida (Stevenson and Anderson 1994; http://www.wildflorida.org/bba/INBU.htm): has expanded breeding range since early to mid-1900s, from panhandle into peninsula; now found south to Pasco and Polk Cos. (about 30% of the peninsula) where locally common.

Oklahoma (Bay 2004): almost exclusively eastern two-thirds of state (west of Woods and Tillman counties, where rainfall >90 cm/yr, in mosaic of oak-pine forest and tall-grass prairie habitats; missing from lower rainfall, shortgrass habitats of panhandle and western regions of state.

Texas (Oberholser 1974): locally common, sea level to 600 m (2,000 ft), in northeastern third; uncommon and irregular on eastern Edwards Plateau.

Winter Range

Largely Mexico to n. Panama, also s. Florida and Greater Antilles; see Figure 1 .

In Mexico, especially eastern coastal regions from Jalisco, Veracruz, Campeche, Yucatán Peninsula, Chiapas; also central and western regions from Sinaloa (R. Culiacán) south to Oaxaca in both Atlantic and Pacific regions (Alden 1969, Binford 1989, Howell and Webb 1995). Common also in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica (Stiles and Skutch 1989, Howell and Webb 1995). Uncommon in Panama where most records in west in Bocas del Toro and Chiriquí, scarce in Canal Zone and rare in e. Panama (Wetmore et al. 1984), n. Columbia (five records, Hilty and Brown 1986) and nw. Venezuela (one record, Hilty 2003). Common in s. Florida and in the Greater Antilles in Cuba and Jamaica (Downer and Sutton 1990, Raffaele et al. 1998, Garrido and Kirkconnell 2000, uncommon in Hispaniola (Keith et al. 2003), rare vagrant in Puerto Rico (Biaggi 1983); also occur in Bermuda, the Bahama, Lesser Antilles, Virgin Islands, Saba, Curaçao and Bonaire (Voous 1983, Buden 1987, Wunderle and Waide 1993, Amer. Ornithol. Union 1998) and in s. Texas in migration or winter (Wauer 1973, Oberholser 1974). A few winter along the Gulf of Mexico and eastern seaboard of United States, occasionally inland to the middle Ohio and Mississippi river valleys and elsewhere (USGS 2004b).

Accidental records in Iceland, Ireland, Britain, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Finland (Cramp 1994, Amer. Ornithol. Union 1998).

Has extended range into southwest US as a summer resident, earliest records 1908 in California and 1917 in Arizona (Swarth 1918, Thompson 1964); established in southwest as a breeding bird as early as the 1940s (Phillips et al. 1964, Hubbard 1978 . In Arizona—in Grand Canyon National Park, has bred since 1964; on lower Colorado River, common since 1970s, at least 55 singing males present in 1997 and successful breeding observed (Monson and PHillips 1981, Rosenberg et al. 1991). Colonized Maritime Provinces, Canada, in 1970s, apparently moving north from Maine where an established breeder before that time (Erskine 1992 . In Florida, has expanded breeding range since early to mid-1900s, from panhandle into peninsula; now found south to Pasco and Polk Cos., where locally common (Stevenson and Anderson 1994). Climate warming likely to drive range expansion, especially at northern limits of range.

No records identified.