Bunting question (1 Viewer)

I have a question for all those Passerina experts on
the BirdForum (you know who you are.... ) The question
is this: is it possible for a male Indigo Bunting to have a
white lower belly and white undertail coverts in the
summer? Or should such a bird always be considered a
hybrid between the Lazuli and Indigo Bunting?

The reason I ask is because I saw a bird today that had all
the right field marks for a male indigo bunting, with the
exception of those pesky white undertail coverts and lower
belly. The bird was dark blue overall, with a black bill, black
primaries and secondaries, and black tail feathers. There
were obvious black edges to the feathers on the wing
coverts, but no trace of any white wing bars, not even
when viewed through a good scope at relatively close
range. There was no trace of red on the lower breast or
upper belly; the feathers blended from blue straight into
the white of the lower belly.

Its song was vaguely similar to a Lazuli Bunting's, but with
a thinner, "tinnier" or more "metallic" quality to its notes.
The notes were also more staccato, and the song overall
continued for a few seconds longer than those of the
Lazuli Buntings that I had heard just a half hour earlier. I
was able to view the bird for about 10 minutes before it flew
off into some dense vegetation along a creek bed.

I know that Indigo Buntings have white feathers on the
lower belly and undertail coverts in their winter plumage.
One of the birders that was viewing the bird with me
thought that it might not have completed its molt into
alternate plumage. Is this possible? It seems pretty late
in the year for it to be molting into alternate plumage.

Anyway, I am curious to see what others might have to
say about this very puzzling bird. Sorry for the lack of
pictures - I'm really not much of a bird photographer....

:stuck:

Well, I finally got an answer to my question on another message board.
It turns out that some Indigo Buntings can display white bellies into the
spring and summer if bird's pre-alternate molt is delayed. This is especially
true in first-year birds.

I also learned this interesting tidbit of information: male Indigos and
Lazulis will actually adopt each others's songs if they feel that this will
make them more successful in attracting a female. This might at least
partially explain why hybrids of both species are common where their
ranges overlap. It also means relying on voice alone to identify the
bird is unreliable.

Isn't the Internet is a wonderful thing.....? :bounce:

- Arnel

Glad you found the answer. Now we both know. I had no idea.

Good you got the answer. I could have helped out with Emberiza buntings, but not Passerina.

Michael

Also, Lazuli and Indigos hybridize commonly, especially where their ranges overlap. Here in Colorado, we see a lot of hybrids the have characteristics like what you describe. Indigos with wing-bars are common or Lazulis with no rust on their breasts. So, you could have had a hybrid. Van

Hi Oldsquaw,

Thanks for the information. There was a lot of discussion
back and forth on the other message board, with some very
experienced birders coming down on either side of the issue.
One of the chairmen on the California Bird Records Committee
did take a look at some of pictures of it that were posted on
the Internet and deemed it to be a pure Indigo Bunting.

From what I observed with this bird, I would have to lean
towards Indigo, as well. It seemed just way too dark for it to
have any Lazuli Bunting genes in it, and there was no white
where there could have been wing bars. But it's probably
impossible to say for sure, short of capturing the bird and
taking a DNA sample.


- Arnel

Hey, c'mon, Arnel--WHICH other message board? I didn't see it on Surfbirds, but then I haven't been there for awhile either.

Hey Charles,

The other message board is the East Bay Birders Circle,
located at the following link:

http://folkbird.net/ebb/archive/archndex.html

This is a local message board for birders in the eastern
counties of the San Francisco Bay Area (Contra Costa
and Alameda Counties). Since it is a local message
board, I wasn't sure whether or not birders here would
be interested in it.

- Arnel