painted bunting at water trough
We’re so tickled to have a family of painted buntings living in a tree behind our house. They frequent a seed feeder and drink at the trough we have set up for the deer. Sadly, these little guys are threatened by a loss of habitat.
Painted Bunting
(Passerina ciris)
http://audubon2.org/watchlist/viewSpecies.jsp?id=156
Male Painted Buntings are the most spectacularly colored of all North American songbirds, with a gaudy combination of red, blue, and green feathers. This species has two distinct breeding populations in North America, but overall, it has shown a significant decline across its entire range during the past 35 years. The exact causes for Painted Bunting’s decline are not known, but they are believed to include habitat loss, cowbird parasitism, and trapping for the pet trade on its wintering grounds.
Great photos of these birds at http://www.greglasley.net/paintedbunt.html
Some other visitors
