Indigo Bunting
Indigo Bunting has declined: down 33% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Indigo Bunting
A small finch-like songbird whose breeding males glow brilliant blue, the Indigo Bunting sings from roadside and woodland-edge perches all summer.
- Size
- 4.5–5 in long, about 0.5 oz (12–13 cm, 15 g)
- Habitat
- Woodlands and forest edges, including wooded suburbs and parks.
- Diet
- Insects and seeds, including small grains and berries.
- Range
- Recorded on 2,651 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 45 states, most concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains.
- Family
- Cardinalidae · Forest birds
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Notable Indigo Bunting Trends
No notable trend signals for Indigo Bunting. See the full index history below.
Indigo Bunting Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Indigo Bunting is projected to stay roughly flat through 2029, near 9.6 (95% range 7.2–12). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±3%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9.8 | 7.4 | 12 |
| 2026 | 9.8 | 7.3 | 12 |
| 2027 | 9.7 | 7.3 | 12 |
| 2028 | 9.7 | 7.2 | 12 |
| 2029 | 9.6 | 7.2 | 12 |
Where the Indigo Bunting Is Detected
BBS routes recording Indigo Bunting, sized by most recent count.
Indigo Bunting Population Trend by State
| Alabama | -22% | 1968 | 108 |
| Arizona | -68% | 1977 | 11 |
| Arkansas | +52% | 1969 | 62 |
| California | -22% | 1973 | 18 |
| Colorado | -64% | 1980 | 17 |
| Connecticut | -14% | 1968 | 20 |
| Delaware | +197% | 1968 | 17 |
| Florida | -45% | 1968 | 65 |
| Georgia | -18% | 1968 | 111 |
| Illinois | +88% | 1968 | 105 |
| Indiana | -22% | 1968 | 69 |
| Iowa | +79% | 1969 | 39 |
| Kansas | +395% | 1969 | 59 |
| Kentucky | -38% | 1968 | 64 |
| Louisiana | +149% | 1969 | 94 |
| Maine | +283% | 1968 | 58 |
| Maryland | +20% | 1968 | 76 |
| Massachusetts | +85% | 1968 | 30 |
| Michigan | +18% | 1968 | 107 |
| Minnesota | +6% | 1969 | 86 |
| Mississippi | +160% | 1968 | 74 |
| Missouri | +94% | 1969 | 95 |
| Montana | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Nebraska | +84% | 1969 | 55 |
| Nevada | insufficient data | n/a | 3 |
| New Hampshire | +192% | 1968 | 26 |
| New Jersey | +17% | 1968 | 40 |
| New Mexico | -77% | 1974 | 26 |
| New York | +42% | 1968 | 128 |
| North Carolina | -23% | 1968 | 112 |
| North Dakota | +10% | 1969 | 19 |
| Ohio | +13% | 1968 | 89 |
| Oklahoma | +77% | 1969 | 66 |
| Pennsylvania | +15% | 1968 | 138 |
| Rhode Island | +272% | 1969 | 5 |
| South Carolina | -42% | 1968 | 50 |
| South Dakota | +106% | 1970 | 27 |
| Tennessee | -8% | 1968 | 55 |
| Texas | +34% | 1969 | 134 |
| Utah | -50% | 2003 | 8 |
| Vermont | +33% | 1968 | 26 |
| Virginia | -10% | 1968 | 88 |
| West Virginia | -50% | 1968 | 63 |
| Wisconsin | +51% | 1968 | 98 |
| Wyoming | -53% | 1986 | 8 |
Indigo Bunting Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Prairie Potholes | +17% | 1969 | 70 |
| Boreal Hardwood Transition | +15% | 1968 | 122 |
| Lower Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Plain | +64% | 1968 | 86 |
| Atlantic Northern Forest | +87% | 1968 | 136 |
| Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau | -61% | 1973 | 28 |
| Badlands and Prairies | -26% | 1970 | 28 |
| Shortgrass Prairie | -74% | 1975 | 28 |
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | +209% | 1969 | 102 |
| Edwards Plateau | +161% | 1973 | 14 |
| Oaks and Prairies | +76% | 1969 | 63 |
| Eastern Tallgrass Prairie | +66% | 1968 | 278 |
| Prairie Hardwood Transition | +40% | 1968 | 161 |
| Central Hardwoods | -25% | 1968 | 166 |
| West Gulf Coastal Plain / Ouachitas | +56% | 1969 | 110 |
| Mississippi Alluvial Valley | +6% | 1968 | 71 |
| Southeastern Coastal Plain | +12% | 1968 | 340 |
| Appalachian Mountains | -29% | 1968 | 405 |
| Piedmont | -16% | 1968 | 171 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | +8% | 1968 | 156 |
| Peninsular Florida | -51% | 1968 | 24 |
| Sierra Madre Occidental | -73% | 1977 | 11 |
| Chihuahuan Desert | -66% | 1992 | 12 |
| Tamaulipan Brushlands | -64% | 1971 | 15 |
| Gulf Coastal Prairie | -37% | 1969 | 32 |
Indigo Bunting Conservation Status
Least Concern
The IUCN Red List rates this species as Least Concern. Our route-weighted index shows it down about 33% since 1968.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.