Passerina cyanea
Identification. Small finch-like songbird. Breeding male brilliant indigo blue all over; female plain brown with faint streaking on underparts. Buzzy, paired-phrase song from exposed perches.
Status in Michigan. Common breeding migrant statewide. Indigo Bunting is a common summer bird across the entire Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula in suitable habitat. Arrival in mid-May, departure in September.
Habitat. Brushy edges of woodlots, power line cuts, abandoned farm fields with scattered shrubs, woodland clearings.
Where to find Indigo Bunting. Singing males perched on tall snags along woodland edges from late May through July. Power line corridors through state forest land are reliable.
Best Michigan counties for Indigo Bunting. All counties with woodland edge habitat. Click any county above to see recent Indigo Bunting sightings and hotspot information.
Conservation. Stable, abundant.
The sightings table below this section pulls live Indigo Bunting reports from eBird across all 83 Michigan counties, refreshed every 15 minutes. For comprehensive historical records and global range information, the eBird species profile and Cornell Lab of Ornithology Birds of the World account are the authoritative references.
Edited by Chris Izworski, Bay City, Michigan. Sightings data from eBird, updated every 15 minutes.