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Beautiful and tropical in appearance, Indigo Buntings are little blue finches, about 14 cm in length. Females are brown, with a paler underside. Males are actually black, but the diffraction of light through their feathers makes them appear turquoise blue in bright sunlight.
They prefer brushy open areas, abandoned pastures and farmland, woodland clearings, or forest edges near fields in the Algonquin Highlands region. Indigo Buntings nest within a few feet of the ground, in a sapling or bush in thick vegetation. A compact nest of woven leaves will house 3 or 4 pale blue eggs.
Male Indigo Buntings each have a song they sing which is unique only to them. They will sing this song every day, which is used to communicate to his neighbours that it is his territory, and he is the same bird continually guarding it. It welcomes females and tells males to stay clear. By maintaining the same song constantly, birds can identify each other and there is no need to fight for territory unless a new song is heard.
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INDIGO BUNTING
Passerina cyanea
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