Painted Bunting
Painted Bunting
Passerina ciris
At a Glance
The Painted Bunting French name, nonpareil, meaning ‘having no equal’, fairly describes the spectacular blue, green, and red colors of the male Painted Bunting. Common in the Southeast United States, the Painted Bunting is often secretive, staying in low dense cover around busy areas and woodland edges. In South Carolina, ‘Old Man Bunting’ nearly broke the record for the oldest Painted Bunting recorded at 14 years. Lucky Floridians may have the Painted Bunting frequent their feeder in the winter.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
Cardinals, Perching Birds
IUCN Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Fields, Meadows, and Grasslands, Forests and Woodlands, Freshwater Wetlands, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets, Urban and Suburban Habitats
Region
Florida, Plains, Southeast, Southwest, Texas
Behavior
Direct Flight, Rapid Wingbeats
Population
15.000.000
Range & Identification
Migration & Range Maps
The Painted Bunting is a strict migratory songbird, migrating at night and often across the Gulf of Mexico. Those nesting on southern Atlantic Coast likely migrate to Florida and northwestern Caribbean, molting prior to fall migration, whereas those nesting further west likely migrate to Mexico and Central America, interrupting migration to stop at molt staging areas.
Description
Sexes similar — Length: 4.7-5.1 in (12-13 cm); wingspan: data unavailable; weight: 0.5-0.7 oz (13-19 g). The adult male plumage varies from the adult female. The male has unmistakable blue head, bright green back, and red throat, chest, and rump. The female has a bright yellow-green underpart, green upperpart, and pale eye-ring. Juveniles are much more dull than the adult male and female at first.
Size
About the size of a Sparrow
Color
Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Purple, Red, Yellow
Wing Shape
Rounded
Tail Shape
Notched, Rounded, Square-tipped
Songs and Calls
Only the male Painted Bunting has been reported to sing. Loud, clear, and variable song consisting of a series of high-pitched musical notes. Call is a sharp, metallic tsick.
Call Pattern
Complex, Undulating
Call Type
Chirp/Chip, Whistle
Habitat
Woodland edges, roadsides, brush, towns, gardens. Favors semi-open areas with dense low growth at all seasons. Breeds around thickets, hedgerows, woodland clearings and edges, and undergrowth of open woods. Winters in similar habitats in Florida, plus areas of scrub and second growth in the tropics.
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Behavior
Eggs
3-4, sometimes 5. Whitish to bluish white or pale gray, with reddish brown spots often concentrated at larger end. Incubation is by the female Painted Bunting only, 11-12 days.
Young
Nestlings are fed by the female Painted Bunting only. Young leave the nest about 12-14 days after hatching, and male may take over feeding them if female begins second nesting attempt. 2 broods per year, sometimes 3, perhaps rarely 4.
Feeding Behavior
The Painted Bunting forages mostly on the ground for seeds; also flies up to take a plant stem, pull it to the ground, and eat the seeds while one foot holds it in place. During the breeding season, the Painted Bunting also forages in trees and marshes.
Diet
The Painted Bunting mostly eats seeds and insects, primarily those of grasses and arthropods; sometimes eats berries and fruits. During the breeding season, the Painted Bunting eats more insects and feeds them to nestlings.
Nesting
To defend territory, the male Painted Bunting sings from a raised perch, often partly hidden among foliage near treetop. The male will also engage in serious physical fights, probably in disputes over territorial boundaries. One male may have more than one mate. Nests are often located in dense bushes, vines, or low in trees, usually 3-9 ft above the ground, sometimes higher. The nest, built by the female Painted Bunting, is open cup woven of grass, weeds, leaves, lined with fine grass, rootlets, and animal hair.
Conservation
Conservation Status
The Painted Bunting is considered near threatened and a species of concern, with surveys showing population declines in recent decades likely due to habitat loss. The adult male Painted Bunting is often captured and kept as a cagebird on wintering grounds in the tropics.
Climate Threats Facing the Painted Bunting
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
