Painted Bunting (fe)

Description:

The female is a lime green with yellow underparts and a grey bill with a touch of yellow. Normally found in the SE states through to Mexico and the Caribbean, breeding in mexico, Tx, OK, KS, ARK, LA and isolated populations along the SE coast, finding one in Oregon in the Winter is a big surprise.

Habitat:

Near the bay in an area of low brush. Locals birders have been laying down seed piles since discovering the bird in mid December

Notes:

There was not long ago a photo taken of a male about 40 miles SE as the crow flies(or 70 as the birder drives), and reports of an immature about 50 miles NE(and about 50 NE from the male). There has been a lot of talk about whether one or both was a released captive. The male was seen at the same location that a canary was, so consensus is the male was an escaped captive, the female seems to be a wild bird(feather condition) and no one got a photo of the juvenile. After this spottting and one of a turtle out of hibernation in January, I'll return to my Africa spottings