What is a Painted Bunting?
The Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) is a neotropical migratory song bird that breeds in two distinct populations, one in the southeastern United States, the other in the Midwest. Males are unmistakable with their blue heads, red eye ring, and red, green, and yellow bodies. Females and immature males are almost entirely green (we refer to all green Painted Buntings as “green birds”). Juveniles that have recently fledged the nest are overall drab- to olive-brown with buffy under-parts.