Educate Yourself About the Indigo Bunting and Other Buntings
Indigo Bunting
The Indigo Bunting has a rich deep blue color and somewhat darker on the head, with a small bill. Its body is stocky, with a short tail. Its length is 5in (14cm) Its wingspan is 8 in (20cm) Its voice has a song of lively, high and strident, and with regular phrases at different pitches; either “sweet-sweet” or “chew-chew”, the note is a sharp thin split. Their eggs are white or pale blue, with no markings, and usually two broods with clutches of 3-4 or (2-4) eggs. The female incubates the eggs for about 12-13 days, and fledging time is around 9-10 days. Both male and female feed their young. The female is mostly brown with a touch of blue on the tail.
The Indigo Bunting lives in upland habitats, favoring the margins between forests and meadows. They especially like shrubby hedgerows, but you can also look for them along creeks, rivers and hear them singing from tall tree tops or utility lines. You will find that the brilliant blue colored male is easier to locate, then the shyer brownish female.
The Indigo Bunting is most common across the entire eastern half of North America, from Canada to Texas and Florida. In the winter they migrate to Central America, like Mexico, Panama, and the West Indies, where they stay in flocks, visiting haunts similar to their breeding habits.
A while ago their where studies made of the bunting’s migration habits; witch showed that they have the ability to navigate, using the North Star as a reference. There is also similar species in the southern states, called the Blue Grosbeaks, witch are larger in size, with brown wing bars, and heavier bills. In the western states there is the Lazuli Bunting, witch almost look like the Indigo Bunting, except for the orange chest, white belly, and wing bars. Sometimes the Indigo Bunting can look very dark or almost black when back lit.
Female buntings build their nests in thickets of raspberry and blackberry, and uses woven grass, with moss and bits of snake skin to line the nest with. They feed their young ones insects like beetles, grasshoppers, mosquitoes, and flies.
If you like to attract buntings like the Painted, Lazuli, and Indigo buntings to your lovely bird feeding garden, plant bushes like elderberry, raspberry and blackberry. Fill you’re hanging bird feeders or bird tables with millet, and provide fresh water, and clean birdbaths.
