An indigo bunting at the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove in Audubon, Pennsylvania
An indigo bunting at the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove in Audubon, Pennsylvania (© Vicki Jauron/Getty Images)
Singing the blues
This time of year, from late spring to summer, male adult indigo buntings take it up a notch and turn a brilliant deep blue. They fly to a high perch—like our cheerful fellow atop a sunflower—and sing from morning to night to try to catch the attention of females. Indigo buntings are members of the ‘blue’ clade (subgroup) of the cardinal family.
© Vicki Jauron/Getty Images