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 Photo: Lang Elliott
Recording of song by Lang Elliott You can also buy the CD in our store. |
INDIGO BUNTING (Passerina cyanea) 
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| 5.5 inches. Eastern North America during the breeding season. Florida, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean during winter. During their breeding season in North America they eat insects, seeds of grasses and herbs, and berries. In winter they eat seeds, buds, and some insects found in their tropical environment. In the early breeding season, the males chase other males that invade their territories and may end up fighting in the air. While fighting they give buzzing calls. They also display when being threatened by standing in erect posture, forming their feathers into a crest, compressing plumage, and by holding their head and tail held high. They may vocalize in this situation as well. Their songs, only sung by the male, play a large part in their social systems, especially with regard to territory, feeding, breeding, and aggression. Their breeding habitat in North America is brushy and weedy, with clearings, open fields, open deciduous woods, and swamps. During migration they look for open grasslands and leafy trees similar to their winter habitat in the south. In their winter habitat they are found in weedy fields, citrus orchards, bean and rice fields, and savannas. |