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Bird's-Eye View: Sweet indigo bunting is a cheerful presence
David Disher Photo
Buntings are small, finch-like birds with cone-shaped beaks.
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Published: June 5, 2009
"Sweet-sweet, chewy-chewy, chicken-chicken!"
Schoolchildren laugh when my friend Susan Jones describes the song of the indigo bunting. But they never forget it.
During spring and summer, the cheerful indigo bunting is one of our most recognizable birds -- by song and color.
Dwayne Murray and others have asked us to write about this bird, so it seems to be a favorite among bird-watchers, too.
Buntings are small, finch-like birds, less than 6 inches long with cone-shaped beaks. Of several bunting species in the United States, only the indigo regularly visits our area. The male in breeding plumage is entirely deep blue, although the wings may appear almost black. Also, the lower mandible of the beak is a distinctive silvery gray. In warm weather, this bird easily can be found sitting and singing in small willows, large sycamores or poplars at the edge of open fields, along streams, in brushy fields or wetlands.
Especially during morning hours, the males sing continuously. Their song always includes at least two sets of paired notes -- the "sweet-sweet, chewy-chewy" part. In our area, most seem to add the "chicken-chicken" part, although the end of the song may vary among local populations.
Bunting bonanza
The females are not indigo-colored. They are brown on the head and back, lighter underneath, with light streaking on the chest. The males also turn brown in the winter and often show a mottled blue-and-brown look outside of the April–July breeding season.
These birds occasionally visit feeders, but they eat mostly insects from foliage or seeds from grasses in their nesting areas. They seem to nest in small colonies. Walk along the Historic Bethabara or Muddy Creek greenways during nesting season, and you likely will hear several males singing to protect their territory.
Males may have more than one mate, but the females tend to keep out of sight until the chicks have fledged. The females do the nest building and place them only a few feet off the ground in a small sapling or shrub. In late summer and early fall, look for both parents and children feeding in high grasses. Indigo buntings usually leave here by October to winter in Central America and the Caribbean.
Bigger than a bunting
Blue grosbeaks look like indigo buntings. Males are mostly blue, females are mostly brown, and both have a silvery gray beak. Moreover, they live in the same places -- grassy fields and the nearby trees, shrubs or power lines.
But blue grosbeaks are much larger, by about 1¼ inches, and, as their name indicates, their beaks are big. In addition, the wings of both sexes are brown with rust-colored bars or patches. Indigo buntings have no wingbars. Watch, too, for the blue grosbeak's habit of flicking its tail sideways while perched. The grosbeak's robin-like song is not as distinctive as the indigo's, but listen also for the metallic "chink" of the bird's call note.
Grosbeaks dine primarily on grass and weed seeds, rather than insects. They build their nests a little higher off the ground than indigo buntings, and they often work with pieces of cotton, paper, snakeskin, hair or other scavenged materials. Two broods a season are common, with the male tending the first group of chicks while the female starts a new nest.
Not true blue
Although indigo buntings and blue grosbeaks appear deep blue in sunlight, their feathers don't have any blue pigment. The same is true of blue jays and bluebirds. Sitting on a wire under a dark sky, these birds can look almost black. Only when light is diffracted through the structure of the feathers do they become blue. This phenomenon is much like the colors that reflect off an oil slick. The color is an optical illusion, but the view on a sunny day is spectacular.
Tanglewood County Park is another summer home for both indigo buntings and blue grosbeaks. Forsyth Audubon will have a bird walk at Tanglewood on June 13 at 8 a.m. Meet at the visitor center on your left at the first intersection inside the park. For more information, contact Gardner Gidley at 766-6730 or tgidley@triad.rr.com.
■ Bird's-Eye View is a joint column by Ron Morris and Phil Dickinson. Today's column was written by Dickinson. Dickinson is a legal writer. He has been an active birder for 15 years, and is a past president of the Audubon Society of Forsyth County and chairs the conservation committee. Morris retired after 24 years as curator at the N.C. Zoo. He has studied birds around the world and is currently the vice president of the Audubon Society of Forsyth County. If you have a birding question or story idea, write to Bird's-Eye View in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101-3159, or send an e-mail to birding@wsjournal.com. Please type "birds" in the subject line.
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