From Opus

Passerina cyanea

Photo by mmdnje
Photographed in Atlanta, Georgia, USA

[edit] Identification

L. 5 1/2" (14 cm)

[edit] Male

• Dark blue
• Wings and tail have some black

[edit] Female

• Drab brown
• Paler beneath

[edit] Distribution

Breeds throughout the eastern United States east of eastern North Dakota, western Colorado, and western New Mexico. Rare to uncommon west of range. Winters south to Greater Antilles, Colombia and Venezuela. Accidental vagrant to the UK and Sweden.

[edit] Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.

[edit] Habitat

Brushy slopes, abandoned farmland, old pastures and fields grown to scrub, woodland clearings, and forest edges adjacent to fields.

[edit] Behaviour

3 or 4 pale blue eggs are laid in a compact woven cup of leaves and grass placed in a sapling or bush in relatively thick vegetation and within a few feet of the ground.

[edit] Discussion

Indigo Buntings have no blue pigment; they are actually black, but the diffraction of light through the structure of the feathers makes them appear blue.

[edit] External Links