By Ginger Andrews
(April 29, 2021) There were two Indigo Bunting reports this week, the first on Saturday from the Lover’s Lane area, the other on Sunday in the mid-island.
This is one of the spring migrants we have been longing for. Male Indigo Buntings are almost impossibly blue, electric blue, like a flame or a spark. Females are a soft brown all over, and often need a second look to confirm. Birders sometimes refer to them as “Browndigos.”
The blue color comes from refracted light, not pigmentation. Indigo Bunting feathers contain the pigment melanin, which looks brownish black when back-lit.
They migrate at night. Studies using planetariums have shown that they use the stars for navigation, with an internal chronometer tracking the progression of the stars across the night sky.
To read the complete story, pick up the April 29 print edition of The Inquirer and Mirror or register for the I&M’s online edition by clicking here.
Click here to sign up for “Above the Fold,” The Inquirer and Mirror’s twice-weekly newsletter, bringing you both the news and a slice of island life, curated with content created by Nantucket’s only team of professionally-trained journalists.
For up-to-the-minute information on Nantucket’s breaking news, boat and plane cancellations, weather alerts, sports and entertainment news, deals and promotions at island businesses and more, Sign up for Inquirer and Mirror text alerts. Click Here
"make" - Google News
April 29, 2021 at 08:37PM
https://ift.tt/3b7721x
Indigo Buntings make island arrival - The Inquirer and Mirror
"make" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2WG7dIG
https://ift.tt/2z10xgv
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Indigo Buntings make island arrival - The Inquirer and Mirror"
Post a Comment