Lin, don't tell me this is a very recent (avatar) photo? The painted buntings never arrived to Martin County until mid October. I'm sure going to miss them up here. Hoping when we get settled I can lure some to hang out here for the winter.

Edited by Becky (Boopaints) to add this photo to the new thread. I am in love, totally in love!

Ann: No, that is a photo from Spring. My Florida Bird book says they are here year round but I only see them in winter and spring. I never had them at my feeders until I started mixing dehydrated mealworms in with the birdseed, they love mealworms!

They like the small seed --- the finch seed. If you put out some feeders only with finch seed & make sure they are near to cover so the buntings can get to safety fast then they will prove to be glutens. They will come back every single year & there will be more of them every year. Then you'll have to put feeders for them both in front & in back. I'm sure they like the meal worms too. they always arrived around Oct. 8th - 15th at my house & you could set your watch by them! They always left right around May 15th --- no later. I have a neighbor down there who has them year round. He has LOTS of cover in his yard & a gazillion feeders. Also, on Jupiter Island where they used to have the town hall (till a few years ago) they had feeders out & had the buntings year round. It takes time Lin.
Also & I found this very interesting --- the female buntings really like to come eat when a male cardinal is eating. They have some kind of odd partnership. Yes, they're both in the finch family but the female buntings won't eat alongside the female cardinals. The male bunting eats with the female buntings or alone but not with the female cardinals. You watch & see what you observe.
Indigo buntings also come down here for the winter. I saw one in my yard twice only & that was before the 2004 hurricanes. I didn't have any buntings at all for 2 years after those 'canes.

Where are they before they come to FL?

I'm not sure ... my Fla bird book says they are in the state year round, but they are becoming scarce because of habitat destruction. Their breeding range includes Florida, Texas, Alabama, Georgia and a few other places: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...

The female is not colorful like the male, this is the Painted Bunting, female:

From Wikipedia:
The Painted Bunting is found in thickets, woodland edges and brushy areas, along roadsides, in suburban areas, and gardens. The male was once a very popular caged bird, but its capture and holding is currently illegal.[4] Populations are declining on the East Coast where habitat is being lost to development. The breeding range includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, and northern Mexico.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...

Also see this:


http://www.paintedbuntings.org...

We do si doed Lin.

And this is the Indigo bunting --- another stunning color --- JR, you might catch a glimpse of these in your area.

And this is a most excellent bird info. site. you can listen to their calls & everything. leave it to Cornell U.!

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

I think we hijacked this thread again.

Dave, doncha think we need a birdwatching forum on here? I can't imagine any gardener who doesn't notice & love the birds.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology site is fabulous, I visit that website all the time! My neighbor used to live in upstate N.Y. and worked for them, tagging (is that the right term?) birds.

I split this thread gals. To keep the other one clean for Trish and Dave's stepping stones and Randy's postcards. AND to give the Painted Bunting his own thread...which he deserves.

PLUS:

What better garden art is there than a Painted Bunting???? I have never seen one and my heart is happy but my mind is jealous. I HAVE to paint some!!!! NOW! TODAY!!!

have you seen photo shopped daisies where each petal is a different hue, rainbow like? That is what I would have bet money on if someone showed me a Painted Bunting.

I Googled and fell more in love even more. This little one resembles me in the morning with bed hair.

Well you 'fused ME Becky!

Just trying to keep the threads on target if they get derailed.

Did you know that I'm in love?

Thank you very much Becky Boo! Yes, this is really what they are called. And I will tell you & Lin will back me up that I have never seen a photo that quite does justice to them. Having seen them in person, up close & personal, they are sooooo bright & shiny & the color is worth a thousand words. This is the best analogy I have ever been able to come up with:
Remember when you would go into a five & dime & they had spool after spool of satin hair ribbons you could buy by the yard? Those are what the painted bunting looks like they are made of. That bright, shiny ribbon.
And you would think that male with all his bright colors would stand out like a sore thumb & never live long because surely a hawk would spy him & eat him before he reached any age. But it is simply stunning how when he lights in a bush he blends sooooo well. And I'm talking about an all green bush with no blooms on it! It's something that has to be seen to be believed.
Paint away dear Becky, paint away!

Ann, I even posted the little bather on my facebook page. I have always loved birds (many saw how silly I was with Buttercup in our #2 contest. But I once rescued a baby sparrow from the mouth of a hungry cat and birds were forever my friends.

I am going to see if I can find a finch at the dollar store and repaint it.

Yep Becky makes sense. i've otherwise found chunks thrown in the sandbox! The buntings are beautiful, they deserve a thread!

Me too, I adore birds! Wow! You had to be good to get a bird alive out of a cat's mouth!
I will freely admit that painted buntings will steal your heart in a heartbeat. And they're pretty tiny too. Great idea to find a finch & repaint it. Technically where I live now is only in their migratory range but I hope, hope, hope that info. is just enough off that I may be lucky enough to have them for many months like I did down south. I think I will miss them as much as anything else.

We are do si do-ing JR.

Ann: Where "down south" did you live before Lake City? My oldest sister and her husband are still down in the southern part of the state (Ft. Lauderdale) and can't wait to retire next year and move up this way. I have a feeling it's going to be a shock to them when they experience their first winter this far north ... they freeze when it's 60º!


Becky: I'm a bird lover too! I adore taking photo's of birds even more than plants! Someone told me that's all I use Facebook for is my pictures and they are pretty much correct ... I don't post much on FB but I do upload my photo's there. I have some at Flickr too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/p... Some of the plant pic's I lost when my laptop crashed a year or so ago so I'm going to retrieve a few for the ATP database.

Anyway, back to the Painted Bunting ... I've always called it the "Rainbow Bird" (although a rainbow has pastel shades) it's still the only way I can describe that beautiful little creature!