Indigo Bunting

Passerina cyanea

Illustration by Diane Pierce

Map

Audio

The male indigo bunting is commonly seen as a breeding species and at migration hot spots. In the spring, the Indigo may be present in large flocks, particularly during migratory fallouts, and is often seen in brushy habitat or along weedy margins of fields and roads, where it sits up and twitches its tail. It sometimes hybridizes with the lazuli bunting. Monotypic. Length 5.5" (14 cm).

Identification Highly sexually dimorphic. Summer male: plumage unmistakable, entirely bright blue. Winter male: blue obscured by brown and buff edging; mottled brown and blue early in winter. Summer female: dull brown, usually with 2 faint wing bars and indistinct streaking on underparts. Whitish throat, small conical bill with straight culmen, relatively long primary projection. Immature and winter female: more rufescent overall than breeding female, with blurry streaking on breast and flanks.

Similar Species Males smaller than the male blue grosbeak, but lack chestnut wing bars, black on face, and dark streaks on back; also has smaller bill. Females similar to other female passerina buntings.

Voice Call: a dry, metallic pik. Song: a series of sweet, varied phrases, usually paired.

Status and Distribution Common. Breeding: found in brushy borders to mainly deciduous woodland throughout eastern United States. In the Southwest, mainly found in riparian habitats. Winter: mainly Mexico through Central America, rarely to northern South America. Also on Caribbean islands. Rare along Gulf Coast and southern Florida. Migration: mainly nocturnal. Arrives on breeding grounds mid-April–early June. In fall, mainly mid-September–mid-October. Vagrant: rare to Pacific states and Atlantic provinces.

Population Western birds may be limited by decrease in riparian habitats.

—From the National Geographic book Complete Birds of North America, 2006

More Mid-Size Birds

Bird Features

Backyard Birding Central

Want to learn more about our feathered friends of the sky? Visit our Backyard Birding site for facts, photos, videos, and more.
What's That Bird?

Identify your backyard visitors in a flash! Just answer four simple questions to search our database of 150 backyard birds common to Canada and the U.S.

See More Bird Features »

Photo Galleries

See More Bird Photos »

Bird News

Why Are Birds Falling From the Sky?

Seemingly freak bird die-offs in Arkansas and elsewhere are making headlines. But is it just hype? And what causes airborne die-offs?
Photos: Bizarre Arkansas Bird Die-Off

Birds were falling from the sky and fish were found floating dead en masse in two recent but unrelated Arkansas die-offs, experts say.

See More Animal News »

Games & More

See More Animal Games »

Birds A-Z

Animal News

Bird Books

National Geographic Magazine

Bowerbirds Gallery

To woo a "Mary," bowerbirds decorate with shells, cans, even pink paper clips.
Counting Cranes Gallery

How many whooping cranes are there? Not enough. See photos of these birds in action.

Newsletters

Steady Hands and Fins

Photographer David Doubilet photographs stingrays, sharks, and more.
Survival Guide: Dodging Locusts

Swarm behaviorist Iain Couzin has a toxic reaction to a locust at the same time his team runs out of food.

From the Magazine

Gannets Pictures

Champion divers but clumsy landers, doting parents but hostile neighbors—northern gannets abound in contradictions.
Estonia's Ural Owls

Photographer Sven Začek provides an intimate view of this large raptor.