Painted Bunting: Basics

Painted Bunting, Passerina ciris

I've dedicated this week to the beautiful Painted Bunting, a bird I've helped with research on for close to a year. While I certainly cannot guarantee great photography, I can guarantee a wealth of information. I will be keeping to schedule on this blog, posting three times a week, but if you find you want to learn more than I post here, I will be adding Google+ posts with more background information. There I can use (with proper credit) images that are not my own for the purposes of further educating.

The Painted Bunting is a small, sparrow-sized bird that prefers the meadows and shrubbery that is offered in the lower Great Plains. This summer migrant has the heaviest concentration right in North Texas, near the Red River and Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. There is also a small, separate population located in the Carolinas. They often arrive in North Texas during the beginnings of May, and leave by mid-August. Due to their specific habitat preference, the Painted Bunting has not adjusted well to urbanization resulting the status of Near Threatened. This status is also partially due to trapping during wintering in Central America.

Often described as the most beautiful bird in North America, the male Painted Bunting is easily distinguished with his blue head, red underside and circled eye, green wings, and yellow back. Following the pattern of sexual selection, the females are a drab green also containing the eye circling but in lighter green. They forage on the ground, looking for insects during the summer, and seeds during the winter.