Mike Powell

Yesterday I spotted several Indigo Buntings (Passerina cyanea) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It is probably more accurate to note that I heard the buntings before I actually saw them. Unlike recent warblers that I have photographed that seem to hide behind the leaves while they sing their songs, Indigo Buntings like to fly to the top of the trees in order to be seen and heard.

I really like the basic description of this species on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website:

“The all-blue male Indigo Bunting sings with cheerful gusto and looks like a scrap of sky with wings. Sometimes nicknamed “blue canaries,” these brilliantly colored yet common and widespread birds whistle their bouncy songs through the late spring and summer all over eastern North America. Look for Indigo Buntings in weedy fields and shrubby areas near trees, singing from dawn to dusk atop the tallest perch in sight or foraging for seeds and insects in low vegetation.”

The bird in the third photo has mottled feathers and may be in the process of molting, but I think that it is another Indigo Bunting. The only other species in our area at this time of year with equally brilliant blue feathers is the Blue Grosbeak. It is a little hard to tell, but it seems to me that the bill on the bird in this photo is too small for it to be a “grosbeak.” UPDATE: Some more experience birders in a Facebook group say that this Indigo Bunting is immature and/or in the process of molting, while others say this is a Blue Grosbeak.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

Read Full Post »

When I saw a flash of bright blue this past Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I thought for sure that it was a male Eastern Bluebird, but when I looked more closely, I was thrilled to see that it was an Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea). Ever since one of my youngest viewers, a four year old named Benjamin, commented that bluebirds have as much orange as blue, I have been very conscious of species that have colors associated with their names.

In the bird world, most of the species names are associated with mature males, which tend to be a lot more colorful than females. The female Indigo Bunting, for example, is not blue at all, but is brownish in color. When I was just getting started in photographing birds, I remember being confused when I was told that a sparrow-looking bird at which I was pointing my camera was a Red-winged Blackbird—it was neither black, nor did it have red wings.

Some of the photographers in my area have recently posted images of a Blue Grosbeak, another bird that has bright blue feathers. They tend to be uncommon, but I will certainly be keeping my eyes open for flashes of blue, a color that seems to be relatively rare in the world of wildlife.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

Read Full Post »