![]() First year birds also tend to have a fleshy, yellow gape in the corner of the mouth, apparent in all months except October and November. Adults instead have a double layer skull, which gives more resistance when applying pressure. Juvenile skulls have a slightly pinkish color that gives under pressure due to its singular layer. įirst years and adult males are distinguishable through close observations of the skull and its degree of ossification. In the adult female, the beak is light brown tinged with blue, and in the adult male the upper half is brownish-black while the lower is light blue. The immature bird resembles the female in coloring, although a male may have hints of blue on the tail and shoulders and have darker streaks on the underside. It has indistinct wing bars and is faintly streaked with darker markings underneath. The adult female is brown on the upperparts and lighter brown on the underparts. In fall and winter plumage, the male has brown edges to the blue body and head feathers, which overlap to make the bird appear mostly brown. The wings and tail are black with cerulean blue edges. During the breeding season, the adult male appears mostly a vibrant cerulean blue. The indigo bunting is a smallish songbird, around the size of a small sparrow. Description Juvenile male indigo bunting at Smith Oaks Sanctuary, High Island, Texas Evolving to reduce size may have allowed buntings to exploit grass seeds as a food source. This timing, which is consistent with fossil evidence, coincides with a late- Miocene cooling, which caused the evolution of a variety of western grassland habitats. This genetic study shows these species diverged between 4.1 and 7.3 million years ago. The indigo bunting is the sister of two sister groups, a "blue" ( lazuli bunting and blue grosbeak) and a "painted" ( rose-bellied bunting, orange-breasted bunting, varied bunting, and painted bunting) clade. ![]() However, according to sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene of members of the genus Passerina, it was determined that the indigo bunting and lazuli bunting are not, in fact, sister taxa. They were declared to form a superspecies by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1983. The indigo bunting is a close relative of the lazuli bunting and interbreeds with the species where their ranges overlap, in the Great Plains. The current genus name, Passerina, is derived from the Latin term passer for true sparrows and similar small birds, while the species name, cyanea, is Latin for cyan, the color of the male's breeding plumage. It was originally described as Tanagra cyanea by Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae. The indigo bunting is included in the family Cardinalidae, which is made up of passerine birds found in North and South America, and is one of seven birds in the genus Passerina. Taxonomy Illustration of male and female indigo bunting between 19. The diet of the indigo bunting consists primarily of insects during the summer months and seeds during the winter months. Nest-building and incubation are done solely by the female. It is brown during the winter months, while the female is brown year-round. It displays sexual dimorphism in its coloration the male is vibrant blue in the summer, with brightly colored plumage during the breeding season to attract a mate. The indigo bunting is a small bird, with a length of 11.5–13 cm (4.5–5.1 in). The indigo bunting is closely related to the lazuli bunting and interbreeds with the species where their ranges overlap. Its habitat is farmland, brush areas, and open woodland. It often migrates by night, using the stars to navigate. It is migratory, ranging from southern Canada to northern Florida during the breeding season, and from southern Florida to northern South America during the winter. ![]() The indigo bunting ( Passerina cyanea) is a small seed-eating bird in the cardinal family, Cardinalidae.
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