Indigo Bunting - Ross Feldner

This captivating small bird is actually a member of the cardinal family. It's preferred habitat is brushy forest edges, farmland and open woodland where it forages for grass seed, berries, spiders, caterpillars, grasshoppers and beetles.

The male Indigo Bunting's brilliant hues are an optical illusion created by the diffraction of light through its feathers. In poor lighting conditions, the bunting's glorious colors vanish, revealing a plain, dark-colored finch.

Males sing one complex song usually while perched on posts, wires and the tops of bushes. The singing is to mark territory and to attract females.

The Indigo Bunting migrates from Canada to Florida during breeding season and from Florida to South America during the winter, mostly at night, navigating by starlight.

In the 1960s, scientists conducted a series of experiments on migratory birds to study their orientation and navigational abilities. Indigo Buntings played a pivotal role in these studies. Researchers placed caged buntings inside a planetarium and manipulated the star patterns, observing the directions the birds attempted to fly. The results conclusively demonstrated that Indigo Buntings, as well as other nocturnal migrating species, rely on the movement of the stars to guide them during migration.