Listening to a Continent Sing

Here is the essence of indigo bunting, illustrated by these two indigo buntings. Listen to the first song from the male in the foreground (0:04), feeling the tempo and overall delivery of his song. Then listen to the immediate echo in the background (0:07; also in VA-96), the songs from a second male in a small clearing here at Bald Mountain along the Blue Ridge Parkway. These two buntings have essentially identical songs, and except for a brief section, they take turns singing them back and forth at each other. The male in the background often sings an additional phrase on the end; the foreground bird sings those on occasion, but not in this brief one-minute selection.

Background

A 2nd indigo bunting in the background.

Photo by John Van de Graaff