Observers: Debby Parker & Andy Zdon
Email: j.parkeratcebridge.net
Verification: MONO
Remote Name: 72.47.27.24
Date: 06/18/2008
Time: 06:59 PM -0400
When leaving Birchim we ran into Andy Zdon & directed him to our INBU. He studied the bird well and later put in the suggestion that it's a hybrid Indigo Bunting. After studying some photos of hybrids I fully agreed with him because our bird shows a pure white belly which a pure Indigo wouldn't have. A one year old bird would have a darker colored belly similar to the upper breast. Also the song we heard might be suspect. Here are Heindel's comments: "It's definitely a hybrid and because it lacks the wingbars it might be a backcross, that is, it is the result of a hybrid breeding with an Indigo Bunting. If the hybrid had bred with a Lazuli Bunting it probably would have had some indication of wingbars". And as Jo said, fun bird!