Balke: Mississippi/Indigo Bunting & Pear

When first encountering the vivid blue Indigo Bunting, people sometimes believethey have spied an exotic bird escaped from the zoo. The songbird is so beautiful in his breeding plumage, he appears to be lost from a tropical homeland. These regally-clothed songsters arrive in late spring from a winter home in Panama. Although they arrive later than most birds in their northern home, the Indigo Buntings make up for lost time by singing from sun up to sun down, all summer long. Even in late August, long after other birds have ceased to sing their joyous summer songs, the persistent Indigo Buntings keep on as if regretful that the season is drawing to a close. As autumn approaches, the birds' vivid blue color dulls to brown. Only faint hints of the deep purplish blue remain as remnants of their previous splendor. These remaining flashes remind the viewer that the IndigoBuntings will return in spring once again to dazzle Americans with their glistening plumage and sweet song.