51ÊÓƵ

Julie Craves, supervisor of avian research for the Rouge River Bird Observatory (RRBO) housed inside 51ÊÓƵ-Dearborn's Environmental Interpretive Center, recently documented the oldest Indigo Bunting songbird ever recaptured by a bird bander in North America.

The bird, which was first banded by the RRBO in 2003 and most recently recaptured on Sept. 29, was recorded by Craves as being 8 years and 3 months old, which is a longevity record for the species in North America according to records kept by the Bird Banding Lab. Craves' recapture beats out the previous record by three months.

For the , visit the RRBO's blog, .

Photo by Julie Craves