The varied bunting (Passerina versicolor) is a species of songbird in the cardinal family, Cardinalidae.

Small disjunct populations occur in the state of Chiapas in Mexico and southeastern Guatemala.

[3] Breeding males are purple-red with a bright red patch on the nape, which becomes browner in the fall.

Varied buntings inhabit deserts and xeric shrublands, preferring thorny brush thickets, thorn forests, scrubby woodlands, and overgrown clearings.

Varied buntings weave open-cup nests of grass and spider webs in the outer branches of thorny shrubs,[3] usually near water.