PAINTED BUNTING BEYOND WORDS

Photo courtesy Brian Johnston
This article was published in May 1977

My approach to the subject of the Painted bunting has been slow … it started at eight this morning and has been losing momentum ever since … each time I think of a catchy phrase or an apt description for this “non pareil” among birds, it has a ring of familiarity … like it has all been said before, in better words by better writers.

If you have seen the male Painted Bunting, you can, of course, understand my feelings of inadequacy. Many a birdwatcher has been reduced to oohs and aahs while reaching for eloquence… for such is his effect upon us.

With master strokes of color wizardry, an uninhibited Dame Nature endowed our little Painted Bunting with singular appeal. No other bird in North America goes about in such a flamboyant combination of paint-pot colors!

From his head and nape of blue, to his wings of green, to his tail and undersides of red, he precisely demonstrates why one picture is worth a thousand words … and one sprightly, wild bird would likewise put all pictures to shame!

Your field guide will give you only a hint of his audacious plumage. Blue is not blue at all when measured against the satiny violet blue head … the green can be found only during early April when spring leaves burst upon the scene, and his red fairly sizzles. Little wonder that upon seeing this “non pareil” for the first time, you may doubt what your eyes have seen.

The almost universal reaction to the first look is to write it all down. Then there is the need to share the experience. This bird can totally disrupt a well-planned day! It is not so surprising that before the enactment of laws to protect the migratory bird, these perfect examples of Nature’s handiwork were trapped and caged and transported around the world to enliven far-flung aviaries.

These buntings appear on the Coast after the first week in April, in company with their near relatives, the beautiful Indigo Buntings. If their need for food is great, they will find your feeding station, but you will more often find them feeding in small flocks in abandoned fields and along weedy roadsides.

Were she not to be compared with her illustrious male counter-part, the female bunting, dressed in sunny springtime green, (a plumage which is unique to the female bunting) might well elicit the admiration which is due her!

Southern Coastal areas, from the Carolinas to Texas, are favored by the Painted Bunting. Here, low growths of hedgerows, bushes and tangled vines offer them ideal nesting sites. As one goes away from the coast, they occur less frequently.

Like other brightly colored birds, these buntings can be difficult to locate among rustling leaves, sparkling sunlight and dancing shadows.  But when the male sings it is quite another matter. From a conspicuous perch, he pours forth his ardor in a variety of songs … emphatic efforts with changes in pitch,  reminding me of a Burt Bacharach ditty. He puts in a long day, from sun-up to sundown … it’s always a good rule to follow the song to the bird … both song and singer will then be well imprinted in your mind.

Our male Painted Bunting is a scrappy little fellow .. he will hold his own at the feeding station even when threatened by that “bird of peace”, the Mourning Dove.

When the females arrive later in April, the competition for mates is rather violent. In the heat of combat, considerable bodily injury occurs, and many a battle does not cease until a male lies dead and the plucky victor is quite the worse for wear, perhaps losing an eye or every feather atop his head!

As a domestic, the male bunting, like other brightly colored males, rates fair to poor. His function is to draw attention away from the nest by singing long and loud from center stage. The female, having constructed the nest and incubated the eggs must feed the young until after they have fledged, while working furiously to ready another nest in time for her second brood.

Only then does our charming Casanova assume some responsibility, feeding and caring for the first brood. If he has been polygamous, there is little time for self-indulgence, for he will stay busy and out of trouble for weeks!

Any attempt to depict the male bunting would be totally inadequate, but these southern specialties will be with us until fall. My wish is that you might become acquainted with this “non-pareil”, who is truly a bird without equal, along some quiet roadside.