Indigo Bunting

1
Indigo Bunting

• Passerina cyanea
• by Luke Coe-Starr
• Identification
• Range and habitat
• Diet
• Song
• Reproduction
• For the field Ethogram

2
Identification
Home

• - Small (4.5-5) finch-like bird
• - Resembles other cardinalids in having a
  short, conical bill stocky body slender legs
  and a tail of moderate length
• - In summer months, male is bright blue in
  body, with darker head (may be confused with
  bluebirds or the closely related Lazuli
  Bunting)
• female is cryptically colored
• - In winter, both male and female are
  predominantly brown and olive, though the male
  may retain some vestiges of blue
• - Juvenile males may be colored intermediately
  between male and female otherwise are drab

3
Range and habitat
Home

• - Winter in Central America and the Caribbean
  breed in North America in summer
• - Breeding range is expanding in the Southwest
• - Inhabits early successional habitats (old
  field environments) and forest edges
• - Males are highly territorial, defending a
  territory through harassing competitors, and in
  singing from a prominent position (which also
  serves to attract mates)

4
Diet
Home

• - Feed primarily on seeds and grain, but will
  also consume small leaves and invertebrates
• - Spend most time feeding solitarily on the
  ground and in brush or the forest understory
• - During the winter months, may feed in small
  flocks of the same species, or several others
• - While raising young, will collect a greater
  number of insects than otherwise in order to
  supply nestlings with protein for growth

5
Song
Home

• - Male advertises his presence through a high
  pitched series of paired notes each male has
  an individual song, learned in his youth from
  neighboring males (rather than from his own
  father)
• - In areas where their territories overlap,
  Indigo and Lazuli buntings may mix elements of
  each others songs
• - Will use a variety of other calls, to
  indicate alarm and to contact others in flight
• - Click here for a sample of Indigo Bunting song

6
Reproduction
Home

• - Male attracts a female (or females) into his
  territory through song
• - Typically monogamous, though infidelity is
  not uncommon
• - The female is the primary nest- builder and
  egg tender (the male being occupied by defense),
  building a bowl-shaped nest in thick brush, and
  laying a small clutch of whitish eggs
• - Both male and female feed the altricial
  young, which hatch after slightly under two
  weeks
• - Chicks typically fledge ten to twelve days
  after hatching
• - Often two or more broods are raised each
  breeding season

7
References

• Pictures, in order
• From http//jonathananddana.com/danajournal/?m200
  704
• From http//www.weeksbay.org/photo_gallery/neotrop
  ical/neotropical.htm
• From http//www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/WildlifeSigh
  tings/WildlifesightJune07.htm
• From http//www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Indigo_Bun
  ting/lifehistory
• From http//www.birdwatchersdigest.com/leica/2007_
  05_01_archive.html
• From http//www.naturesound.com/birds/pages/buntin
  g.html
• From http//bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/004/
  galleries/figures/figure-8
• Literature consulted
• 1. Baughman, Mel National Geographic Reference
  Atlas to the Birds of North America
• 2. Sibley, David Allen The Sibley Guide to Bird
  Life and Behavior