Birds · Passeriformes · Cardinalidae
Indigo Bunting
Passerina cyanea
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary
The indigo bunting, known in Spanish as azulejo índigo and also as arrocerito índigo, azulillo índigo, azulillo norteño, azulito norteño, colorín azul (Mexico), escribano índigo (Ecuador), gorrión azul, pape azulejo or simply azulejo, is a species of passerine bird of the family Cardinalidae native to eastern, central and south-western North America, which spends the winter in the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas and Central America as far as Panama and sometimes as far as northern South America.
Weight
11 g – 21 g
Size
11 cm – 13 cm
Lifespan
11 years
Diet
Omnivore
Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.
Activity
Diurnal
Active mainly during the day.
Social structure
In pairs
Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.
Sighting difficulty
Easy
Fun facts
- Experiments with this species in a planetarium in the 1960s showed for the first time that migratory birds navigate by the stars: the buntings learn as youngsters the point around which the night sky turns and use that reference as a compass.
- Its blue is structural, not pigmentary: the bird is really brown, and the colour comes from the diffraction of light in its feathers. Against the light it looks almost black.
- The males learn their song from their neighbours, not from their fathers, and in one area local dialects can form that persist for decades.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
- Habitat & environment
- Forest edges, scrub, hedgerows and farmland of eastern North America; winters in Central America and the Caribbean
- Sexual maturity
- 12 months
- Gestation / incubation
- 12 days
- Litter / clutch size
- 3.5 (average)
Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passerina_cyanea
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapWhere to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 10 de 18 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Indigo Bunting — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
Least ConcernBald Eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Least ConcernScarlet Macaw
Ara macao
Least ConcernWhite-nosed Coati
Nasua narica
Wood Duck
Aix sponsa
Wild Turkey
Meleagris gallopavo
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