New York City gets several indigo buntings (Passerina cyanea) each year, and each time one is spotted, we get so excited. These are delightful birds, and it is so much fun to see the blue, blue males looking for seeds in the grass.
Indigo bunting, bathing rock near the Pool, Central Park, May 15, 2023
I was sitting near Dell Water at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn on May 2, 2024, when a beautiful indigo bunting flew near the steps I was perched on and foraged a bit while I tried to take photos. The photos don’t do justice to this beautiful bird!
Indigo bunting, May 2, 2024, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn
On April 25, 2020, a young male indigo bunting was feeding in the area north of the butterfly gardens in Central Park known as the Grassy Knoll. He was joined by field sparrows, a song sparrow and several savannah sparrows. Later, I saw house sparrows, white-throated sparrows and chipping sparrows, and April 28 I saw the grasshopper sparrow at Sparrow Rock. On May 2, I saw my eighth kind of sparrow, a swamp sparrow, at the Loch. The video, set to music by Edvard Grieg, is fun, I think!
Young male indigo bunting, northern Central Park, April 25, 2020
Young male indigo bunting, Central Park, April 25, 2020