Miami, FloridaEven as three armed officers closed in on the small wooden cage, its occupant sang out. The call was that of a young male indigo bunting, high-pitched and simple. The bird was too young to have perfected more complex tunes, but he sang with gusto.

Lazaro Enamorado, 32, the bird’s owner, listened nearby, arms crossed, face grave. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered, looking away as the officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission prepared to take his crooner and two other cherished songbirds back to their vehicle. Enamorado’s eyes were shiny with tears.

In the wild, indigo buntings and many other songbirds traverse huge distances during their spring and fall migrations, taking wing from breeding grounds in southern Canada