Female Indigo Buntings (Identification Guide)

It is a joy to observe blue buntings, especially during the breeding season when their plumage is even more colorful. During the breeding season, they can be found throughout the deserts of the eastern half and southwestern United States. Bunting migrates to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean during the winter.

Female blue buntings are less brightly colored than males, and have little or no blue color, even during breeding season. Like many other birds, females have a more earthy complexion to better blend in with their surroundings. Of course, this helps to camouflage the female and ensure the success of the chicks.

The female’s plumage isn’t the only difference between her and the male Indigo Bunting. She also exhibits some behavioral differences, especially regarding nesting behavior.

In this complete guide, we’ll dive into the specific characteristics of female blue buntings. Read on to discover more!

How do you know if an indigo bunting is a male or a female?

During the breeding season, indigo buntings are sexually dimorphic, which means their plumage is different at this time of year. In spring and summer, the male’s plumage is bright blue with a slightly darker color around the head and face. Their bills are silver gray. Females, on the other hand, are light brown overall, with off-white throats and a striped chest. Occasionally, females have pale blue feathers on their wings.

Outside of the breeding season, males are darker in color and have browner plumage. However, their wings and tail feathers are still blue, while females are almost solid brown.

Juvenile indigo buntings are more similar in color to females. They are brown in color overall with a light gray underside and more clearly streaked. Immature or non-breeding males are spotted blue and brown all over.

What does a female indigo bunting look like?

Adult female indigo buntings have soft, light brown plumage with occasional bluish tinges on the wings and tail. They darken and dim slightly in winter.

Are female blue buntings bigger than males?

Female indigo buntings are slightly smaller than males. They typically measure around 63.2mm, with males averaging 66.7mm. Men also weighed slightly more than women overall. However, female blue buntings gain weight during the nesting season and are almost as big as males.

behavioral difference

Female indigo buntings exhibit some behaviors that differ from males. Most notably, they differ in singing, nesting, hatching, and feeding behaviors. Knowing what to look for when viewing indigo buntings will help you identify adult and juvenile females from males.

We will take a closer look at these differences in the following paragraphs.

sing and call

Female blue buntings cannot sing. Only males exhibit this behavior, and it’s important for announcing their territory to other males and their singleness to females.

Female buntings do have a set of calls that they make in certain situations. chip It is a soft distress call when people are approaching or when cubs leave the nest. eh eh eh is a more serious distress signal used when a known predator is near the nest.women have one too Didi Didi

Call used to solicit mating.

nesting

Female blue buntings build their nests without the help of their mates. Most of the time the male does not even accompany the female. To begin the nesting process, females visit various potential sites in the undergrowth, such as raspberry fields.

Once a site has been chosen, the female begins gathering nesting material—mainly stems, leaves, strips of bark, and grass. Nests are usually built in the bends of three branches and secured with spider silk. Early in the season, construction can take as long as 8-10 days, but later nesting is usually shortened to no more than two days.

Female buntings have a ventral brood area from which their feathers are removed once the nest has been built. The patch remains naked throughout the nesting season until the female molts. Males have no brood area.

incubation

Hatching is also done entirely by the female blue bunting. It begins once the last egg is laid. Until then, females only stay in the nest during rainy or cold weather.

While the females are hatching, the males may remain near the nest, sounding the alarm if disturbed, but generally, they are not interested in the eggs. Male indigo buntings also do not bring food to females when they are in the nest. Instead, incubation is interrupted periodically to allow the females to forage.

feed

After the eggs hatch, the female broods the chicks for the first six days. Brooding is not constant, as the female must also leave the nest to forage for herself and her clutches. Even after the chicks have fledged, the female continues to provide food for a while.

Males also do not forage for their mates or chicks during this stage. Occasionally, male indigo buntings will provide some parental care when they are closer to the nest. Overall, men participated the least.

Can female blue buntings raise their young alone?

Female blue buntings can of course raise their young alone. Even in the presence of a mate, the female already provides almost all parental care. Unlike many other birds, female blue buntings do not depend on a mate for food during incubation and brooding. Instead, she will leave the nest for short periods of time to support herself and her young.

Interestingly, male blue buntings don’t seem to consider their offspring as their own. This is thought to be the reason for their lack of parental care. The researchers questioned whether women also lacked this link. They care for their young, but also provide food for the chicks of other birds (mainly cowbirds) when their nests are infested with parasites.