[obol] Buntings at Basket Slough

[Norgren Family]

The bird appears to be a first year
male-hence the light feathers on the
belly. The upper parts are all dark,
there is no trace of wing bars, not
much evidence of being a hybrid. Lars Norgren
On Jul 1, 2007, at 4:26 PM, Kit Larsen wrote:

>
> George Grier, Cynthia Pappas, and I visited Basket Slough this
> morning to search for the INDIGO BUNTING that has been reported
> recently. We did find the bird, near the "cherry tree snag" as
> reported before. It was in the presence of a male LAZULI BUNTING and
> a female bunting. Based on the behavior we observed, we suggest that
> the Indigo and the female are paired. The Indigo acted aggressively
> towards the Lazuli, driving it off seveal times and chirping as if to
> protect its territory. On a few occasions, the Indigo and the female
> bunting both flew down to the same location in the blackberries,
> where they remained hidden for a few minutes. Once it appeared that
> the female was carrying food down to the blackberries.
>
> I got a few photos of the Indigo and of the female. I wonder that the
> Indigo might be a hybrid (with Lazuli), based on the light (almost
> white) underparts. I would appreciate others' opinions on this.
>
> http://uoregon.edu/~klars/indbunting1.jpg
> http://uoregon.edu/~klars/indbunting2.jpg
>
> Kit Larsen
> Eugene
>
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