Painted Bunting

About the Painted Bunting

Often called the most beautiful bird in North America, the male Painted Bunting looks almost unreal - a patchwork of deep blue head, red underparts, and a green back. The female and young are a bright, uniform lime-green unlike any other songbird in the United States, and worth a second look in their own right.

Buntings feed on seeds and small insects along brushy edges and thickets. The male sings a sweet, warbling phrase from a hidden perch far more often than he shows himself, so many people hear the song long before that painted body finally slips into view.

In Texas they are spring and summer breeders across much of the state, arriving around April into brushy edges, thickets, and semi-open woods, and they will visit seed feeders and water where cover is close by.

A note from behind the lens: dawn is your best window, when the male drops his guard and sings from an open perch. A clean feeder setup or a quiet water feature with a natural perch nearby, worked in soft early light, is the classic way to earn a frame of that impossible color.