Common Nesting Birds

meet your neighbors

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Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea )


Photo © Norm Townsend

Indigo Bunting nest

Photo © René Corado

Indigo Bunting eggs

Photo © René Corado

Breeding male

Photo © Daniel Irons / Macaulay Library

Female/immature male

Photo © Andrew Newmark / Macaulay Library

Nonbreeding male

Photo © Gil Ewing / Macaulay Library

Female/immature male

Photo © Matthew Eckerson / Macaulay Library

Female/immature male

Photo © Dan Vickers / Macaulay Library

Breeding male

Photo © Daniel Jauvin / Macaulay Library

Song

© Wil Hershberger / Macaulay Library

Song

© Doug Hitchcox / Macaulay Library

Song

© Robert Bethel / Macaulay Library

Flight song

© Wil Hershberger / Macaulay Library

Calls

© Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library

Tink calls

© Bruce A. Sorrie / Macaulay Library

Flight calls

© Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library

When To Look

Source: Birds of the World

Where To Find It

Habitats

grassland

open woodland

river

shrub

Substrates

Bush or Shrub

What You'll Find

Nest Type

cup

Chick

Altricial

Clutch Size

3
4

Nest Height

3 ft
0 ft

Nesting Statistics

Incubation Period

11-14
days

Brooding Period

8-14
days

Useful Hints

  • The female Indigo Bunting builds the nest alone—a process that takes up to 8 days early in the season and as little as 2 days later in the summer.
  • She locates the nest in a crotch or fork where branches meet, amid a supporting network of vertical and diagonal twigs.
  • The nest cup is about 1.5 inches deep inside, with an outside diameter of 3 inches and an inside diameter of 2 inches.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell Lab of Ornithology