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

Male Indigo Bunting, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Morgan Caygill, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 383579597. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

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

WinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune)Dune grassland. Shown: Core Banks, Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Core Banks dunes, June 2013, Jarek Tuszyński, June 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source record.

SummerWinterDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub RegenerationNamed place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

SummerRidge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and WoodlandLimestone cedar glade. Shown: Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Mason Brock (Masebrock), undated. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouth-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Mountains of North and South Carolina; exact site not identified, a neighboring state.Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Shrub Modifier; Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous ModifierGrassy mountain bald with shrub islands. Shown: Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, Swain County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, July 2020, Andrea Walton / Great Smoky Mountains National Park, July 2020. Public domain. Source record.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland PocosinDense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

SummerSouth-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

SummerNorthern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood ForestNamed place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

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.

SummerWinter

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest; Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest; Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

SummerCentral Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

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.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

SummerWinterDeveloped, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

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.

SummerDeciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation

Other habitats in its models (57)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.

Developed, Low Intensity Winter.
Orchards Vineyards and Other High Structure Agriculture Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Winter.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland 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.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Summer.
Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer.
Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer.
Florida Dry Prairie Summer and winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer.
Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
Recently Logged Areas Summer and winter.
Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Winter.
Recently Burned Summer and winter.
Recently Burned Forest Summer and winter.
Recently Burned Grassland Winter.
Recently Burned Shrubland Summer and winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer and winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer and winter.
Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
Cumberland Riverscour Summer.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier 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.