Passerina ciris
male
The Painted Bunting is a striking little songbird. The sexes are dissimilar. Adult males have a blue hood with a narrow red line down the throat, the color continuing on the underparts and rump. The back is yellowish green and the brown wings have green feather margins. Adult females are plain by comparison, with yellowish-green upperparts and paler yellow underparts. Juveniles recall an adult female, but their overall buff plumage shows just a tinge of green on the upperparts; by their first spring, immature males have acquired some of the adult male’s blue and red colors.
The Painted Bunting is present as a breeding species in southeast U.S.A. mainly from May to September. It spends the rest of the year mainly in Central America, although small numbers winter in southern Florida. Despite the male’s gaudy colors, the species’ secretive nature and habit of keeping to dense cover make it hard to see.
immature male
female
FACT FILE
LENGTH 5.5 in (14 cm)
FOOD Mainly seeds, with invertebrates in spring and summer
HABITAT Dense woodland margins and clearings, often near water
STATUS Locally common summer visitor
VOICE Song is a series of whistling phrases. Call is a sharp chip
