July 3, 2009The Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) is a member of the Cardinal family. It is a fairly common resident in Texas during the summer months but is not often seen. They like to remain in deep brush cover so it is unusual to see them at feeders, even though they are seed-eating birds. The best time to see them is early in the morning when males come out to sing.
Painted Buntings are easily the most brightly colored birds in all of the US. They are the only US species of bird to have a blue head and red underparts. Females are are greenish above and buff-colored below. First-year males look similar to females.
Their diet consists of insects, insect larvae, and spiders in breeding season and seeds in fall and winter. In the fall Painted Buntings migrate south to Mexico, Panama, and a number of Caribbean Islands.
The conservation status of Painted Buntings is listed as Near Threatened. There has been a steady decline in the population of this species since 1965 (as much as 65%). The exact cause of the decline is unknown but it is believed to include habitat loss and cowbird parasitism. Additionally, thousands of male Painted Buntings are trapped annually in Mexico for export to bird dealers in Europe.
As noted, the above photo was taken on July 3rd. Any Painted Buntings who were here on the ranch this summer have most certainly migrated south by now. You can see another one of my Painted Bunting photos here.
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