Lazuli Bunting

This bird has shown up at our feeders for probably 6-7 years now. Started with 1 pair, now up to about 8-9 pairs.
I always look forward to them. They stay for the season.
In fact they're due any time.
We live in SW OR.

I was walking in the yard on 05.22.2010 and saw this beautiful bird, sitting on the crook that holds one of our suet feeders, and what caught my eye was the black tear-drop that ran from eye to beak, surrounded by the brilliant, almost metallic indigo color; he turned around an then I saw the wings and wondered what family this bird belonged to...Then he turned again(frontal view) and looked like a rather large bluebird. Looked him up in the NAS Field guide, and noticed he was was rather far east of his range. We live in Mountain Home(North Central), Arkansas.

This year we have 5 nesting pairs of Indigo Buntings and one pair of Painted Buntings, as well. Will be on the lookout for more of the Lazulis.

A strikingly beautiful bird. Normally found in western shrublands, OK is not considered part of its range. However, there have been a number of OK sightings in 2009. I've had 3 in my yard. Very similar in appearance to a Bluebird from the front.