Thursday, April 16, 2009

Painted buntings.

Monday of this week, I was pleasantly surprised when I came home and found a male painted bunting on my bird feeder. After a few minutes of feeding, he flew away. I figured he might well be a migratory bird just passing through. I did not see one again until this morning when there was not one, but two male painted buntings on my feeder simultaneously. They were flitting out to the woods behind my fence and back for a good twenty minutes. I've not seen a female so far, but I expect that I will. The colors are blue, green, and red. They also have remarkable ruby-red eyes.They are indigenous to the area, but it's the first time I've seen them in the 15.5 years I've been here. Anyone else? Meanwhile, activity is picking up over at the occupied blue bird house on the back fence. I'm guessing eggs have now hatched. If you've never seen a painted bunting, here's a link to a picture: http://audubon2.org/watchlist/viewSpecies.jsp?id=156

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We have seen them at our feeders for years. They are just beautiful! They don't seem to come as often as the other regulars.

A really special sight for us is when the cardinal babies can fly. They come with their parents to our feeder, stand on the ground or perch in the bush, while the parent gets seed then feeds the babies. We love our feathered friends!

Jay Moreno said...

I'm glad to hear that. Here's an update: yesterday, I got up to find not one, but TWO male painted buntings on my feeder simultaneously!

The only other time I had ever seen them was on Hilton Head Island in the summer of 1965 when I took a job over there right out of high school. They were actually plentiful there back then. I was reading on the internet that our barrier islands are something of a haven for them.

I've got a mated pair of cardinals that feed daily at mine. I'll be on the look out for the young ones. They should show up soon if they are going to. Have you noticed that cardinals will feed right up until there is jsut barely enough light to get back to their roost? Also,the males will not tolerate any other birds on the feeder at the same time.