Painted Bunting (male)

Description:

Painted Buntings are medium-sized finches with stubby, thick, seed-eating bills. Males are stunningly colored with blue heads, red underparts, and green backs. Females and immatures are a uniform, bright yellow-green overall, with a pale eyering. Though they are basically unpatterned, their overall color is greener and brighter than similar songbirds.

Habitat:

Flew into a low branch of a Hackberry tree, rested, took a bath in the stream, then went on its way. Wildlife habitat garden.

Notes:

IUCN Conservation Status: Near Threatened These fairly common finches breed in the coastal Southeast and in the south-central U.S., where they often come to feeders. They are often caught and sold illegally as cage birds, particularly in Mexico and the Caribbean, a practice that puts pressure on their breeding populations.