Painted Bunting

Passerina cirisOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Cardinals and Grosbeaks (Cardinalidae)

Breeding Location:

Forest edge, Bushes, shrubs, and thickets, Marshes, freshwater, Swamps, Scrub vegetation areas



Breeding Type:

Monogamous



Breeding Population:



Egg Color:

Light blue with red brown markings



Number of Eggs:

3 - 5



Incubation Days:

11 - 12



Egg Incubator:

Female



Nest Material:

Stalks, leaves, and grasses.



Migration:

Migratory



Splitbar

Overview

Painted Bunting: Beautiful, medium bunting with bronze-green back and bright red rump and underparts. Head and nape are blue. Red eye-ring. Wings are dark with green shoulder patches. Feeds on seeds, insects and caterpillars. Short, low flight. Alternates rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

Range and Habitat

Painted Bunting: Breeds from Missouri and North Carolina south to the southeastern states and west to New Mexico and Oklahoma. Spends winters from the Gulf coast states southward. Preferred habitats include brushy tangles, hedgerows, briar patches, woodland edges, and swampy thickets.

Breeding and Nesting

Painted Bunting: Three to five light blue eggs with red brown markings are laid in a cup nest made of grass stems, rootlets, and bark strips, lined with moss and hair, and built near the ground in a bush or small tree. Incubation ranges from 11 to 12 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Painted Bunting: Eats mostly seeds in winter and insects, spiders, and snails in summer. Forages on the ground; also strips seed from grass stalks or snatches insects from spider webs.

Readily Eats

Safflower, Apple Slices, Suet, Millet, Peanut Kernels, Fruit

Vocalization

Painted Bunting: Song is loud, clear, and variable, consisting of a series of high-pitched musical notes. Call is a sharp, metallic "tsick."

Similar Species

Painted Bunting: Male is unique; female is much greener than other female buntings.

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Family Cardinals and Grosbeaks (Cardinalidae)_blue
Species Passerina ciris
Length5 - 5.5 Inches
Wingspan8.25 Inches

Painted Bunting

Painted Bunting: Beautiful, medium bunting with bronze-green back and bright red rump and underparts. Head and nape are blue. Red eye-ring. Wings are dark with green shoulder patches. Feeds on seeds, insects and caterpillars. Short, low flight. Alternates rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "tsick"

● Foraging & Feeding: Painted Bunting: Eats mostly seeds in winter and insects, spiders, and snails in summer. Forages on the ground; also strips seed from grass stalks or snatches insects from spider webs.

● Breeding & nesting: Painted Bunting: Three to five light blue eggs with red brown markings are laid in a cup nest made of grass stems, rootlets, and bark strips, lined with moss and hair, and built near the ground in a bush or small tree. Incubation ranges from 11 to 12 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Painted Bunting: Male is unique; female is much greener than other female buntings.

Flight Pattern

Short flights wih rapid wing beats.
Painted Bunting Body Illustration_2
● Range & Habitat: Painted Bunting: Breeds from Missouri and North Carolina south to the southeastern states and west to New Mexico and Oklahoma. Spends winters from the Gulf coast states southward. Preferred habitats include brushy tangles, hedgerows, briar patches, woodland edges, and swampy thickets.
BreedingMonogamous
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.8 Ounces