The indigo bunting is a sparrowlike bird with a conical bill. Adult male upperparts are turquoise blue when seen in sunlight; otherwise they appear dark blue or blackish. The wings and bill are gray. Underparts are blue. First-spring males are blotched with blue and brown. The female is pale brown with faint wing bars and streaking on breast; the bill is gray. Young individuals are more heavily streaked below. The song is a series of whistled couplets, with each couplet usually slightly lower in pitch: sweet-sweet, tew-tew, chew-chew. The call is a sharp spit.
Key identifiers:
- Sparrow-sized.
- Short, conical bill.
- Males bright blue, but in low light can look gray or blackish.
- Females pale brown, with faint wing bars and faintly streaked breast.
- Very common along country roads, along fence lines, along edges of woods, and in open or brushy areas.
Similar species: Numerous brown-streaked sparrows and other "LBJs" ("Little Brown Jobs") could be confused with female and young indigo buntings. Three Missouri species might be confused with the male indigo bunting:
- The closely related blue grosbeak looks similar and can also appear black in some lighting, but it is much larger and has a very large bill; in good light, it also has two brown wing bars. The blue grosbeak is rare to uncommon in many parts of Missouri, while the indigo bunting is abundant and easily seen statewide.
- The eastern bluebird (Missouri’s state bird) is a type of thrush; it’s larger, with a much thinner bill; both sexes have an orangish breast and white belly.
- Another close relative, the lazuli bunting, is very rarely seen in western Missouri, usually in spring. Male lazuli buntings have an orangish breast and white belly, similar to the eastern bluebird.
Length: 5½ inches.
Statewide.
Habitat and Conservation
Indigo buntings perch and sing in brushy fields, forest openings, woodland edges, yards, parks, and hedgerows. They are frequently seen flying up from gravel roads.
This is one of the most abundant and easily seen and heard birds in the state. Find some trees in a park or a clearing in the woods, or bike or walk on the Katy Trail, and you will see them as they fly up from the ground or sit on a fence. Learning to recognize their songs will help you identify them. In late spring, you may find one at your bird feeder.
Food
Forages for insects, seeds, and berries. Plants in the aster family, such as thistles, goldenrods, and dandelions, provide many of the small seeds indigo buntings prefer. Elderberries, serviceberries, and blackberries are among the many fleshy fruits they eat.
In summer, when insects are most plentiful and when extra protein is needed by the growing young, these buntings hunt grasshoppers, beetles, cicadas, and a large variety of caterpillars.
Status
Common summer resident statewide; as winter visitor, casual in southern Missouri.
Life Cycle
Females build cup nests of leaves, grasses, and other materials, binding them together with spider webs, and positioning them in low shrubs, typically in open areas or edges of woodlands. A clutch comprises 3–4 eggs, which are incubated for 11–14 days. After hatching, the young stay in the nest for about 2 weeks. There can be 1–3 broods per year.
Indigo buntings can live for at least 13 years.
Indigo buntings arrive in Missouri in April and are gone by the beginning of November. They overwinter in Central America, from southern Mexico and the Caribbean south to the northern part of South America. They migrate at night, navigating by the stars.
Human Connections
One of the most colorful birds in Missouri.
Many human activities are harmful to indigo buntings. Because buntings live and nest in open areas, including roadsides, many are killed by cars. Farming practices and roadside mowing that eliminate shrubby, weedy habitat also eliminate habitat for buntings. In some parts of Mexico, indigo buntings are captured and sold illegally as cage birds.
There’s some indication that indigo buntings might be expanding their range northward, which scientists believe could be a response to a warming climate, caused by humanity.
Ecosystem Connections
In many species of birds and other animals, the male is brightly colored while the female “wears camouflage.” In most cases, generations of females preferred males with genes for bright colors, allowing those males to pass their genes on to the next generation. Meanwhile, the habitat has favored females with genes for camouflage colors, giving them a reproductive edge over females that are more easily seen by predators.
About 350 species of birds are likely to be seen in Missouri, though nearly 400 have been recorded within our borders. Most people know a bird when they see one — it has feathers, wings, and a bill. Birds are warm-blooded, and most species can fly. Many migrate hundreds or thousands of miles. Birds lay hard-shelled eggs (often in a nest), and the parents care for the young. Many communicate with songs and calls.