Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 12:29:55 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "rick@blazie.net" Subject: Re: Indigo Bunting Question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kevin: I have seen quite a number of Indigo Buntings in variations of the plumage you describe. The short version is that they are 1st spring males, which do not achieve the full adult male plumage. The always have white feathering and it is usually concentrated on the belly, but it can appear anywhere and the amount is certainly variable. The long version has to do with the odd molt sequence of Indigo Buntings, which is immensely complicated and involves more molts per year than most small birds, but the details don't really change the fact that these are oen-year-old birds. The one-year-old males arrive later on the breeding grounds than full adults and tend to be found in slightly marginalized habitat for Indigos. It is thought that most of them do not successfully mate in their first year but some do replace lost males from nearby pairs. Eirik A.T. Blom 4318 Cowan Place Belcamp, Md 21017 410-575-6086 rick@blazie.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin Sperka" To: Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 5:03 PM Subject: [MDOSPREY] Indigo Bunting Question > Last week I saw a male Indigo Bunting at Kinder Farm Park which had white > markings on it's lower belly. I thought at first it may be a partial albino. > When looking through the Sibley guide I noticed on page 470 that there is a > picture of a hybrid Indigo x Lazuli. The bird I saw at Kinder had the same > white markings on the belly, but did not have white wing bars. Also, I > figured that the hybrids would only be found in the section where the two > birds overlap. I concluded that this was just an unusual variation of an > Indigo Bunting. However, today I was birding Patapsco State Park and noticed > an Indigo Bunting that looked just like the one I saw at Kinder Farm Park. > Has anyone else seen male Indigo Buntings like these? Does anyone know what > causes these white markings? My only other guess would be that these males > have not completed molting. > > > Kevin Sperka > Catonsville, MD > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================