Painted Bunting Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  Painted Buntings are medium-sized finchlike birds with stubby, thick, seed-eating bills.

  Relative Size

  Larger than an American Goldfinch; smaller than an Eastern Bluebird.

  sparrow-sized or smaller

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 4.7-5.1 in (12-13 cm)
    • Weight: 0.5-0.7 oz (13-19 g)

  © David Hollie / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  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.

• Behavior

  Painted Buntings forage on the ground in dense cover, among grasses, or at seed feeders. Sometimes they venture out into grass to forage on seeds. On migration they form loose flocks with other seed-eating birds. Breeding males often perch out in the open to sing their jumbled, sweet songs.
• Habitat

  Painted Buntings breed in dense brush, often adjacent to thick, grassy areas or woodland edges. During migration and winter they favor dense, weedy habitats as well as the understory of semi-open forest.