German ornithologist Jean Cabanis defined the genus Cyanocompsa in 1861, giving it its current binomial name.

The adult and immature females are overall dull brownish, with a reddish tinge to the belly.

[3] Compared to the nominate, the C. p. beneplacita male is a duller blue and the female paler and with less of a reddish tinge on the belly.

It occurs from Veracruz in eastern Mexico south and east through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador into northwestern Nicaragua.

C. p. beneplacita is mostly confined to Nuevo León in northeastern Mexico, though it occasionally wanders into Texas and Louisiana.

[3][2] The blue bunting inhabits dense vegetation such as scrubby areas, thickets, and the undergrowth and edges of tall forest.

Nests have been described; they were cups made of rootlets and other fine plant material and placed in bushes.