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Bedecked in vivid blues and boasting a dazzling repertoire of songs, the males of this species steal the show.
Imagine the most extravagant palette of sapphire, cobalt, and royal blue, with hints of lapis and mulberry, and then and then imagine all of that in the shape of a bird, and you have the Indigo Bunting. The bird is a magician and its otherworldly color is actually an optical illusion since Indigo Buntings (like most other blue-coloured birds) actually lack any sort of blue pigmentation. Instead, their feathers have particles that refract and reflect light, which makes them look blue. Alas, only the adult males have such resplendent coloring; the females (and young males) are brown, streaky, and can easily be confused with a sparrow.
Nocturnal Champions
Indigo Buntings are long-distance migrants that travel almost 2,000 km from their wintering grounds in South America to their breeding grounds here in southern Ontario. Yet what’s spectacular, in addition to the vast distance they cover, is their ability to migrate exclusively at night by using the celestial sky to navigate. Their migratory prowess was proven in the 1960s, when researchers studied captive Indigo Buntings inside a planetarium and determined that they could alter their flight pattern in response to moving stars.
Super Songsters
You’ll probably hear an Indigo Bunting before you see one. Loud, boisterous, and relentless singers, male buntings love singing from an elevated perch, including tree tops and telephone wires. They learn their lively, high-pitched song — a series of paired notes — from older males and can sing as many as 200 songs per hour.
Season’s Eatings
Indigo Buntings would fare well at a buffet. In the spring and summer, they load up on insects, especially spiders, caterpillars, and cicadas for the protein boost necessary to ensure successful nesting. In the fall and winter, their diet shifts to seeds and berries, which they chomp down on thanks to their thick bills. You’ll often find them foraging on the ground, in fields, or in shrubs.
Life in the Nest
While the gorgeous male Indigo Bunting is singing up a storm, the more subdued female is left to do the work of nestbuilding and rearing the youngsters. Cup-shaped nests are usually strategically concealed in low vegetation and Indigo Bunting females lay three or four eggs up to three times during the breeding season. Sometimes the male swoops in to help with feeding the babies, but most often he’s busy wooing another female. Oh, those polygamous birds!
Seeing Indigo Buntings in Toronto:
Arrival date: early May
Departure date: late September
Where to see them: Look for them singing their hearts out in tops of trees, on telephone wires, in parks such as Tommy Thompson Park, Ashbridges Bay, and Earl Bales Park. These birds breed in Toronto so come June, you can watch them feeding and raising their young.
