Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)

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Abundance: Common during spring, summer, and fall; Rare during winter; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from Regional bird-monitoring efforts indicate the population breeding in the Region is stable (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident; Rare Visitor during winter (at least 5 records); specimen (6 June 1938; Coopersville, Wayne County, Kentucky; W. M. Perrygo; Wetmore 1940).

Regional High Count and SBC/SBB High Count: 892 (12 May 2001; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.); FBC/FBB High Count: 150 (25 September 2010; DeKalb County, Tennessee [FBB]; m. ob.).

Out-of-Season (Winter) Records: 

6 February 1993 (1—basic-plumaged individual) City Lake Natural Area, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Barbara H. Stedman), a Winter Bird Population Study record.

31 December 2005 (1) near Shopville, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Connie S. Neeley), a Somerset CBC record.

4 December 2008 (1—basic-plumaged individual killed by dog) Leffle Webb Rd., Cumberland County, Tennessee (Edmund K. LeGrand photo [of specimen]).

4–5, 7–8, 11–12, 14, and 16 February 2010 (1—basic-plumaged individual at feeder)  Love Colony Rd., DeKalb County, Tennessee (Michael J. Hawkins photo).

1 January 2014 (1—basic-plumaged individual) Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo), a Somerset CBC record.

31 December 2016 (1) Pulaski County, Kentucky (Ray Bontrager et al.; sketch), a Somerset CBC record.

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: x (

    Late Fall: x (

    Note: Spring arrival usually widespread by 25 April; fall departure largely complete by 25 October.  Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported fall departure for the years 2002–2011 follow:

* Perhaps pertains to a wintering individual; ** See also Out-of-Season (Winter) Records (above).

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). 

Habitat: x

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 38 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 85 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, resulting in YardWatch frequency classifications of Fairly Common and Common, respectively; the former YardWatch frequency classification is inconsistent with the overall Regional abundance classification, but the latter is consistent with it.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: x

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited