Bird
Indigo Bunting
Passerina cyanea
A summer resident that nests in Virginia. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 15 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 15
At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 15
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 15
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 15
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Streams, rivers and their banks
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (57)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (23)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Cumberland Riverscour Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Florida Dry Prairie Summer and winter.
- Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Winter.
- Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Summer.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Summer.
Land cover and other classes (34)
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Developed, Low Intensity Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer and winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Winter.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Orchards Vineyards and Other High Structure Agriculture Winter.
- Recently Burned Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Forest Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Grassland Winter.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Summer and winter.
- Recently Logged Areas Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Seasons in Virginia
- Summer: nests here, in all 133 counties and cities.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 11
- Smooth BlackberryRubus canadensis
- Black RaspberryRubus occidentalis
- Southern DewberryRubus trivialis
- Allegheny BlackberryRubus allegheniensis
- Bristly BlackberryRubus setosus
- Northern DewberryRubus flagellaris
- Pennsylvania BlackberryRubus pensilvanicus
- Sand BlackberryRubus cuneifolius
- Swamp DewberryRubus hispidus
- Common ElderberrySambucus canadensis
- Red ElderberrySambucus racemosa var. pubens
Plant genera in its diet records (2)
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Virginia, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 68
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- White-winged CrossbillLoxia leucoptera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
Plants 230
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Eastern Winged SumacRhus copallinum var. latifolia
- Godfrey's ThoroughwortEupatorium godfreyanum
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern Whitetinge SedgeCarex albicans var. australis
- Southern LoosestrifeSteironema tonsum
- Carolina LilyLilium michauxii
- Tall BellflowerCampanulastrum americanum
- Bigleaf SnowbellStyrax grandifolius
- Delicate Rabbit-tobaccoPseudognaphalium micradenium
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 86
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
Plants 381
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia fulgida var. umbrosa
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Virginia Cup-plantSilphium connatum
- Coville's PhaceliaPhacelia covillei
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 96
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- Hoary RedpollCarduelis hornemanni
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
Plants 1283
- Pussy WillowSalix discolor
- Crooked-stem AsterSymphyotrichum prenanthoides
- Long Stalk AsterSymphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common HorseweedErigeron canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Hairy FleabaneErigeron bonariensis
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Northern Evening-primroseOenothera parviflora
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Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Indigo Bunting Avoids forest interior
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus