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  Profile

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  In flight

Songbirds

Indigo Bunting

Passerina cyanea

• uncommon
• 40 km/h
• Least Concern

Not actually pigmented blue — its feathers refract light. The trick of the trade.

Population

~28 million mature individuals (Partners in Flight estimate)

Habitat

Brushy forest edges, open deciduous woodland, second-growth scrub, overgrown fields, and farmland edges; favors weedy/shrubby areas near trees

Fun fact

Male Indigo Buntings migrate at night and orient themselves using the stars, having learned the rotation of the night sky around Polaris as young birds.

Range

Breeds across eastern North America from southern Canada and Maine south to northern Florida and eastern Texas, west to the Great Plains (overlapping with Lazuli Bunting); winters from southern Florida and Mexico through the Caribbean and Central America to northern South America

Diet

Insects and spiders (caterpillars, grasshoppers, beetles, true bugs) during the breeding season; seeds of grasses and herbaceous plants dominate the winter diet

Size

0.13 m

Wingspan

0.2 m

Lifespan

13 years