{"id":130466,"date":"2024-07-12T02:42:17","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T07:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=130466"},"modified":"2025-09-08T07:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T12:22:08","slug":"female-or-possible-immature-male-indigo-bunting-at-sequoyah-nwr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/07\/12\/female-or-possible-immature-male-indigo-bunting-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Or Possible Immature Male Indigo Bunting At Sequoyah NWR"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge two days ago, I was thrilled to have this female\/immature Indigo Bunting in my viewfinder for a few seconds.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale or possible immature male Indigo Bunting on a log \u2013 Canon R7, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Canon 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of the blue feathers I can see above and in front of the bunting’s eye, I believe this is an immature male. Those blue feathers are more pronounced in the full-resolution image than in this web-sized version. This bunting may have hatched this breeding season although I do not see a clear, fleshy gape in any of my images.<\/p>\n

The Indigo Bunting was quite cooperative. I exited Steve’s truck on the passenger side and took my photos of it across the hood. By doing that, I avoided most of the green grasses in front of the bird, except for the one strand of grass crossing in front of the bunting’s tail.<\/p>\n

The log on which the bunting is perched is a recent deadfall from some strong winds that have passed through the refuge, bringing many trees, large and small, down.<\/p>\n

I haven’t had the Indigo or Painted Buntings in my viewfinder as much as I had hoped so far, but there is still time left before the buntings migrate to their overwintering grounds.<\/p>\n

Indigo Buntings always, and I do mean always, bring back fond memories for me from when my sons were young, and we would go out looking for them on back roads in Georgia.<\/p>\n

Listening to the Indigo Bunting males singing on high perches and seeing them is often enough for me. Still, I would love more photos of these brilliant blue birds to share and include in my galleries. They are spellbinding birds in shape, color, and song<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Indigo Bunting photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge two days ago, I was thrilled to have this female\/immature Indigo Bunting in my viewfinder for a few seconds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,13046,13973,13974],"tags":[13985,13984,6530,5817,12043,12147,13048,4962,13047,4104,15340,5300,2315],"class_list":["post-130466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-indigo-buntings","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forests","tag-bottomlands","tag-bunting","tag-buntings","tag-female-immature","tag-fleshy-gape","tag-indigo-bunting","tag-log","tag-passerina-cyanea","tag-perched","tag-possible-immature-male","tag-roadside","tag-summer-3"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t