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We need your Painted Bunting observations!

May 14, 2008
We need your Painted Bunting observations!

Painted Bunting (photo by Antonio Hidalgo)

The migratory Painted Bunting is one of the most colorful North American birds. It breeds in shrubby habitats, mixed with some trees, in the southern US and in northern Mexico and winters from Florida, Mexico, and the western Caribbean south to Panama. For some lucky homeowners, Painted Bunting is a backyard bird in the summer months, or a visitor to bird feeders in the winter (in Florida and Middle America). Populations of breeding Painted Buntings have declined significantly across its range, according to data gathered between 1966 and 2006 for the North American Breeding Bird Survey.

There is particular concern about the status of the eastern population of Painted Bunting, which breeds from North Carolina south to Florida and has a much more limited distribution than the western population. The eastern population has not been well-surveyed by the Breeding Bird Survey, due in part to its prevalence in coastal areas where few BBS routes are conducted. Although we know the general outlines of the migratory routes of Painted Bunting, many questions remain regarding where it winters and in what numbers. Your observations, submitted to eBird from throughout the range of Painted Bunting will help us better document the abundance and distribution of this spectacular songbird, and aid in conservation efforts to protect it. Click here to read more about the Painted Bunting, the status of its populations, and efforts to conserve it.


Please submit your sightings to contribute to this effort--any observations of Painted Bunting are of importance. Of particular value are sightings from:

1) The summer (May to September) observations from the eastern breeding range in eastern North and South Carolina, Georgia, and northern Florida.

2) Winter observations from anywhere in the species' range, especially wintering areas south of the United States.

Please remember that filling out the effort information in your submission helps us understand how common Painted Buntings were and whether the higher counts were the result of increased effort.