Description

In spite of 40 years in Texas, I had never seen Painted Buntings up close until I made a road trip to the Hill Country in April 2018. A week later a male showed up at my feeder. I was completely gob-smacked. It came by periodically throughout the summer usually in the afternoons when it was very quiet, and if I hadn’t mowed the grass too closely. It took months to get a shot in sunlight. My spirits lifted with each visit.

One extremely hot August afternoon, a female showed up accompanied by this same male. Then two more males arrived. That was the last I saw the males. For the rest of August, a group of females and immatures took up residence before heading south in September.

Counting all those feathered blessings.

Category

Category 1: Birds with Food, or at the Feeder

Species

• Painted Bunting