![]() The Blue Grosbeak often sports a two colored bill with a darker gray on the upper mandible and lighter gray on the bottom mandible. In addition, The Indigo Bunting has a completely one colored gray/silver bill. The indigo Bunting has a relatively small, conical bill while the Blue Grosbeak has a comparatively larger bill. Indigo Bunting Range Billīill size is a solid way to differentiate between these two species. Unlike Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings make their way much farther north in summer as they are found in every state east of Montana and even southern parts of Canada. It is also notable to note that the Indigo Buntings range seems to skip over western Mexico. This bright blue bird also inhabits most of the southern United States with the exception of parts of Arizona and Texas. Much like the Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Buntings winter as far south as Central America. ![]() ![]() They do however appear farther north in the central part of the United States as they also summer in Oklahoma and the Dakotas. While the Blue Grosbeak is widespread in the United States, their basic range does not typically go north of Colorado and Indiana with only a few individuals spotted annually during summer in states like Wisconsin. They span from the west coast to the east coast and can be found readily in the southern states. The range of these two species differs slightly with much of it overlapping.īlue Grosbeaks general range is as far south as Central America during the winter months and as far north as North Dakota in summer. While it is hard to tell size on a single bird by itself, a side by side comparison shows this difference distinctly. This means that in theory, an Indigo Bunting should never be as large as even a relatively small Blue Grosbeak. Blue Grosbeaks typically range between 15 and 16 cm while Indigo Buntings are between 12 and 13 cm. This experiment showed that migratory birds rely on the rotational pattern of the stars to find their way north or south.Grosbeaks of North America - Calls and LocationsĪs far as size is concerned, there is a discernible difference between a Blue Grosbeak and an Indigo Bunting. Birds that were exposed to stars with no rotation or rotation around a different star migrated in different patterns. These birds oriented themselves away from the North Star, in the appropriate southern direction for migration. One group was placed in the planetarium under stars that performed a normal rotation around the North Star. In 1967, a Cornell scientist placed three groups of indigo buntings inside a large cage inside a planetarium. Indigo buntings migrate at night, using the stars’ rotation to help them find their way. Some males may arrive as much as a month earlier, though. Known for both their ceaseless singing and their color, most indigo buntings begin arriving in Massachusetts in mid-May. The Indigo Bird … is a spirited and beautiful summer resident, where, from the tops of trees, from roofs, and chimneys and lightning rods, we hear his sweet lisping song, which at first is exceedingly pleasant, but at length wearies the ear by its perpetual repetition throughout the summer day. ![]() In “A Report on the Birds of Massachusetts Made to the Legislature in the Session of 1838-9,” W. Young male indigo buntings have brownish patches mixed in with their blue feathers. ![]()
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