I don’t normally take pictures of birds at feeders, but I think this one is just too good to pass up!
Those colors aren’t Photoshopped or manipulated in any way. That’s just how a male painted bunting looks. There is not a more colorful bird in the United States. You’ll find them in the Southeast and South-central U.S. during the breeding season. They have the good sense to spend the winters from the southern tip of Florida down through Central America.
I remember the first time I ever saw a painted bunting. We were vacationing on Hilton Head in March with our friends Bob and Barbara. I was walking by the sliding glass door to the deck when a flash of color at a feeder caught my eye. I screamed, bringing my wife, Bob and Barbara hurrying to me to see how I might have injured myself. My wife gasped — the sight of the painted bunting had taken her breath away!
The French name for this member of the finch family is “nonpareil,” which means “unequaled.” No argument here.
I took this picture last February at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, about two weeks after the annual birding festival there. Although we got a few very nice shots, there were disappointingly few birds there that week. The week before, the Space X company had launched a rocket from the southern tip of Merritt Island, a spot named Cape Canaveral. Seems our fine feathered friends didn’t dig the noise and vibrations, and they decided to spend the rest of the winter in a quieter part of Florida.