Indigo Bunting (Passerin indigo)

     Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) is a very attractive bird, and I often see a male singing from the top of a snag on my way over to SpruceHaven several times a week. This morning he was not there, his place having been taken by a Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris), no doubt willing to defend a territory and do battle with all comers, including the Indigo Bunting should it return.
     Each year for the past few years a male Indigo Bunting seems to visit our backyard for about two days in the spring, and then it is gone, and we don't see it again - and more's the pity.

     It is an attractive little bird and there is a bit of added significance when we see it, for it brings to mind Miriam's sister, Grace, who has fond memories of this bird from her childhood.

     Grace has not seen one in many years, but remembers well the burst of colour in the trees around their farmhouse and the leisurely well-spaced notes of the male with its flourishing diminuendo.

     How one could remain immune to the charms of an Indigo Bunting is quite beyond me.

     The young male below has pretty much completed the transition from juvenile to adult, with barely a hint of immature plumage remaining.

     Perhaps we can advocate to have the name of the species changed to Grace's Bunting; after all there is already a Grace's Warbler. I think its scientific name should be Passerina gracia. 
     What do you think? The world would get used to it in a hurry!