Image # 9241
Indigo Bunting adult male perching on dead herb A male Indigo Bunting pauses after the rigors of crossing the Caribbean on its northward migration. This healthy bird is one of thousands of lucky ones. Neotropical migrants often die from exhaustion in the rain and whipping winds of powerful ocean storms. Simply making landfall does not guarantee survival since many are so weak that they are unable to find the food to survive. Indigo Buntings weigh less than an ounce, yet they fly over thousands of miles of water between their winter and summer homes. If scientists' preditions of harsher and more frequent storms due to global warming come true, Indigo Buntings and other neotropical migraints may face even more dangerous journeys over the high seas.
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