Bird
Indigo Bunting
Passerina cyanea
A summer resident that nests in West Virginia. Found in all 55 counties, across 10 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 10
At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 55 counties
- Habitats
- 10
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in West Virginia 10
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 10
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.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
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 (69)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in West Virginia. Those recorded in West Virginia first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (30)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest 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.
- Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland 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.
- Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous 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.
Northeast (2)
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer.
Land cover and other classes (37)
- 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.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated 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.
- Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune) Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Seasons in West Virginia
- Summer: nests here, in all 55 counties.
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 20
- Dwarf Red RaspberryRubus pubescens
- Missouri BlackberryRubus missouricus
- Purple-flowering RaspberryRubus odoratus
- Rubus heterophyllusRubus heterophyllus
- Smooth BlackberryRubus canadensis
- Black RaspberryRubus occidentalis
- Allegheny BlackberryRubus allegheniensis
- Bristly BlackberryRubus setosus
- Garden Dew BerryRubus aboriginum
- Northern DewberryRubus flagellaris
- Pennsylvania BlackberryRubus pensilvanicus
- Rose BlackberryRubus rosa
- Rubus invisusRubus invisus
- Steele's DewberryRubus steelei
- Swamp DewberryRubus hispidus
- Robin-runawayRubus repens
- Common ElderberrySambucus nigra subsp. canadensis
- Red ElderberrySambucus racemosa
- Sambucus racemosa var. racemosaSambucus racemosa var. racemosa
Plant genera in its diet records (2)
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in West 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 88
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Northern BobwhiteColinus virginianus
- White-winged CrossbillLoxia leucoptera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- American Tree SparrowSpizella arborea
- Barred OwlStrix varia
Plants 192
- Eastern Winged SumacRhus copallinum var. latifolia
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Godfrey's ThoroughwortEupatorium godfreyanum
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- McCree's MilkpeaGalactia volubilis
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern LoosestrifeLysimachia tonsa
- Carolina LilyLilium michauxii
- Tall BellflowerCampanulastrum americanum
- Perfoliate BellwortUvularia perfoliata
- Green Pyrola, Green-flowered WintergreenPyrola chlorantha
- BeechdropsEpifagus virginiana
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 96
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- Hoary RedpollCarduelis hornemanni
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- MerlinFalco columbarius
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Ring-necked PheasantPhasianus colchicus
Plants 905
- Pussy WillowSalix discolor
- Crooked-stem AsterSymphyotrichum prenanthoides
- Long Stalk AsterSymphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Bushy KnotweedPolygonum ramosissimum subsp. prolificum
- Carey's KnotweedPersicaria careyi
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Northern Evening-primroseOenothera parviflora
- Oakes Evening PrimroseOenothera oakesiana
All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in West Virginia
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 103
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- CanvasbackAythya valisineria
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
- Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
- Ruddy DuckOxyura jamaicensis
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- SoraPorzana carolina
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- Virginia RailRallus limicola
Plants 303
- Peach Leaf WillowSalix amygdaloides
- White Panicled Aster; Eastern Lined AsterSymphyotrichum lanceolatum var. latifolium
- Rudbeckia fulgida var. spathulataRudbeckia fulgida var. spathulata
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Blunt Broom SedgeCarex tribuloides
- Mountain SilverbellHalesia carolina
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
- Camphor PlucheaPluchea camphorata
- Virginia Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum var. connatum
- Heartleaf NettleUrtica chamaedryoides
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