Indigo Bunting Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Song
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West Virginia, July 25, 1996Recorded by Wil Hershberger / Macaulay Library
Song
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Maine, May 25, 2019Recorded by Doug Hitchcox / Macaulay Library
Song
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Georgia, June 08, 2011Recorded by Robert Bethel / Macaulay Library
Flight song
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Maryland, July 27, 2017Recorded by Wil Hershberger / Macaulay Library
Calls
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New York, June 30, 2016Recorded by Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library
Tink calls
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New York, August 02, 1967Recorded by Bruce A. Sorrie / Macaulay Library
Flight calls
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New York, June 30, 2016Recorded by Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

Male Indigo Buntings whistle a bright, lively song of sharp, clear, high-pitched notes that lasts about 2 seconds. They are voluble, singing as many as 200 songs per hour at dawn and keeping up a pace of about one per minute for the rest of the day. Notes or phrases are often repeated in pairs: "what! what! where? where? see it! see it!" This pattern is recognizable, although the precise tune varies from place to place. Young Indigo Buntings learn their songs from males near where they settle to breed, and this leads to “song neighborhoods” in which all nearby males sing songs that are similar to each other and that are different from those sung more than a few hundred yards away.