The painted bunting (Passerina ciris) is a species of bird in the cardinal family, Cardinalidae. It is native to North America. The bright plumage of the male develops beginning in the second year of life; in the first year, they can be distinguished from the female only by close inspection.

Taxonomy

The painted bunting was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Emberiza ciris. Linnaeus based his account mainly on the "Painted Finch" that had been described and illustrated in 1730 by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Linnaeus specified the type locality as America but this was restricted to the state of South Carolina by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1931. The specific epithet ciris is the Latin name for a mythical bird, from Ancient Greek κειρις/keiris for an unidentified bird. The painted bunting is now one of seven species placed in the genus Passerina that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot.

Two subspecies are recognised:

Painted bunting eggs are pale blue-white speckled or spotted with brown. Three to four eggs (or occasionally five) appear from March to July in cup-shaped nests usually built in brush or low trees, usually 3 to 6 feet from the ground but up to 12 feet.

Distribution and habitat

The painted bunting occupies typical habitat for a member of its family. It is found in thickets, woodland edges with riparian thickets, shrubbery and brushy areas. In the east, the species breeds in maritime hammocks and scrub communities. Today, it is often found along roadsides and in suburban areas, and in gardens with dense, shrubby vegetation. The wintering habitat is typically the shrubby edges along the border of tropical forests or densely vegetated savanna. Pennsylvania,

Behavior

Painted buntings are shy, secretive and often difficult to observe with the human eye, though can be fairly approachable where habituated to bird feeders. Males sing in spring from exposed perches to advertise their territories. They also engage in visual displays including flying bouncingly like a butterfly or in an upright display, body-fluff display, bow display and wing-quiver display. These displays are used in antagonistic conflicts with other males or in breeding displays for females, with females rarely engaging in displays. Occasionally, males may physically clash with each other and may even kill each other in such conflicts. such as Panicum, of sedges such as Carex, and forbs such as Amaranthus, Oxalis, and Euphorbia. In winter painted bunting eat seeds almost exclusively, but while breeding, and in feeding their nestlings, they mainly seek out small invertebrates, including spiders, snails, and insects such as grasshoppers and caterpillars. Sometimes they visit spider webs opportunistically to pick off insects caught in them.

Further reading

Book

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Thesis

  • Finke MA. M.A. (1979). TERRITORIALITY AND USE OF SPACE BY MALE PAINTED BUNTINGS, PASSERINA CIRIS CIRIS (L.). State University of New York College at Geneseo, United States, New York.
  • Forsythe DM. Ph.D. (1974). SONG CHARACTERISTICS OF SYMPATRIC AND ALLOPATRIC INDIGO AND PAINTED BUNTING POPULATIONS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. Clemson University, United States, South Carolina.
  • Womer DB. M.S. (1987). BREEDING HABITAT ANALYSIS OF THE INDIGO BUNTING (PASSERINA CYANEA) AND THE PAINTED BUNTING (PASSERINA CIRIS) IN EAST TEXAS. Stephen F. Austin State University, United States, Texas.

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Articles

  • Academy Of Natural Sciences Of P. (1999). Painted Bunting: Passerina ciris. Birds of North America. vol 0, no 398. p.&nbsp;1–23.
  • Barber DR & Martin TE. (1997). Influence of alternate host densities on brown-headed Cowbird parasitism rates in black-capped Vireos. Condor. vol 99, no 3. p.&nbsp;595–604.
  • Bochkov AV, Fain A & Skoracki M. (2004). New quill mites of the family Syringophilidae (Acari : Cheyletoidea). Systematic Parasitology. vol 57, no 2. p.&nbsp;135–150.
  • Brennan SP & Schnell GD. (2005). Relationship between bird abundances and landscape characteristics: The influence of scale. Environmental Monitoring & Assessment. vol 105, no 1–3. p.&nbsp;209–228.
  • Conner RN, Dickson JG, Williamson JH & Ortego BN. (2004). Width of forest streamside zones and breeding bird abundance in eastern Texas. Southeastern Naturalist. vol 3, no 4. p.&nbsp;669–682.
  • Durden LA, Oliver JH & Kinsey AA. (2001). Ticks (Acari : Ixodidae) and spirochetes (Spirochaetaceae : Spirochaetales) recovered from birds on a Georgia barrier island. Journal of Medical Entomology. vol 38, no 2. p.&nbsp;231–236.
  • Kilgo JC & Moorman CE. (2003). Patterns of cowbird parasitism in the southern Atlantic coastal plain and piedmont. Wilson Bulletin. vol 115, no 3. p.&nbsp;277–284.
  • Klicka J, Fry AJ, Zink RM & Thompson CW. (2001). A cytochrome-b perspective on Passerina bunting relationships. Auk. vol 118, no 3. p.&nbsp;611–623.
  • Kopachena JG & Crist CJ. (2000). Macro-habitat features associated with painted and Indigo Buntings in northeast Texas. Wilson Bulletin. vol 112, no 1. p.&nbsp;108–114.
  • Kopachena JG & Crist CJ. (2000). Microhabitat features associated with the song perches of Painted and Indigo Buntings (Passeriformes : Cardinalidae) in northeast Texas. Texas Journal of Science. vol 52, no 2. p.&nbsp;133–144.
  • Lanyon SM & Thompson CF. (1984). Visual Displays and Their Context in the Painted Bunting Passerina-Ciris. Wilson Bulletin. vol 96, no 3. p.&nbsp;396–407.
  • Lanyon SM & Thompson CF. (1986). Site Fidelity and Habitat Quality as Determinants of Settlement Pattern in Male Painted Buntings Passerina-Ciris. Condor. vol 88, no 2. p.&nbsp;206–210.
  • Norris DJ & Elder WH. (1982). Distribution and Habitat Characteristics of the Painted Bunting Passerina-Ciris in Missouri USA. Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science. vol 16, p.&nbsp;77–84.
  • Quay WB. (1985). Cloacal Sperm in Spring Migrants Occurrence and Interpretation. Condor. vol 87, no 2. p.&nbsp;273–280.
  • Spicer GS. (1977). 2 New Nasal Mites of the Genus Ptilonyssus Mesostigmata Rhinonyssidae from Texas USA. Acarologia. vol 18, no 4. p.&nbsp;594–601.
  • Springborn EG & Meyers JM. (2005). Home range and survival of breeding painted buntings on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Wildlife Society Bulletin. vol 33, no 4. p.&nbsp;1432–1439.
  • Taylor WK. (1974). NEW HYBRID BUNTING (PASSERINA-CYANEA X PASSERINA-CIRIS). Auk. vol 91, no 3. p.&nbsp;485–487.
  • Thompson CF & Lanyon SM. (1979). Reverse Mounting in the Painted Bunting Passerina-Ciris. Auk. vol 96, no 2. p.&nbsp;417–418.
  • Thompson CW. (1991). Is the Painted Bunting Actually Two Species? Problems Determining Species Limits between Allopatric Populations. Condor. vol 93, no 4. p.&nbsp;987–1000.
  • Thompson CW. (1991). THE SEQUENCE OF MOLTS AND PLUMAGES IN PAINTED BUNTINGS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THEORIES OF DELAYED PLUMAGE MATURATION. Condor. vol 93, no 2. p.&nbsp;209–235.
  • Thompson CW. (1992). A KEY FOR AGING AND SEXING PAINTED BUNTINGS. Journal of Field Ornithology. vol 63, no 4. p.&nbsp;445–454.
  • Young BE. (1991). ANNUAL MOLTS AND INTERRUPTION OF THE FALL MIGRATION FOR MOLTING IN LAZULI BUNTINGS. Condor. vol 93, no 2. p.&nbsp;236–250.
  • Painted bunting - Passerina ciris - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
  • Painted bunting species account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology