Painted Bunting This is a male Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) in full breeding plumage, singing from the top of an Eastern Red Cedar tree. Each individual is a rainbow of colors… In this closer look, you can clearly see the reddish eye-ring of the male. Less common than its relative, the cardinal, Painted Buntings have a limited habitat, confined to maritime shrub thickets close to the shore. Unfortunately, such areas are disappearing rapidly due to coastal development, leaving only protected public lands for maritime forests. Maritime Shrub Thicket I found these birds in the shrub thickets around the Radio Island Beach Access. It’s almost impossible to see the Painted Buntings within the dense vegetation, except when the male sings from an exposed perch in breeding season. Females seem to be silent and elusive, almost impossible to see, camouflaged in green feathers. Fortunately, they come to feeders… Female Painted Bunting Note: this bird is banded. Painted Buntings are only summer residents in coastal North Carolina. As soon as winter approaches, they migrate south to wintering grounds at the southern tip of Florida, or farther south to Cuba, the Caribbean and Central America. They migrate back again in spring. Here are some other interesting birds to meet… The Birds of Black >>Great-crested Flycatcher >>Two Woodpeckers and a Sapsucker >>Encountering Green Herons >>Fence Sitters >>Birds in the Old Burying Ground >>Hard to See >> Please follow and like: Share this:FacebookXLike this:Like Loading... Post navigation Great-crested FlycatcherYellow-billed Cuckoo