Painted Bunting Research

A dainty trill, a flash of feathers, colors like an escapee from a pet shop!

Lockwood Folly offers a fine birding opportunity for bird-watching enthusiasts and nature photographers.

On a recent warm, but pleasantly breezy afternoon, I was treated to the birding event of my life -observing Sarah Green, a Painted Bunting research bird bander, working quietly in the back yard of Sharlene and Gordon Ackley. Sarah was equipped with two tube feeders, two specially built bird cages, a tackle box of tiny banding tools, record books, a scale, ruler, assorted colored bands, small cotton bag, and - lots of gentle patience. Sarah is a bander for the Painted Bunting research program - part of a three-year study, April to August, selecting only salt water habitats in North Carolina and some inland shrub habitats in South Carolina.

  • Most Buntings seen in one day at any one site:28
  • How many opportunities to band birds:season is from May 30th to Sept. 15th
  • With a turnaround date of July 15. When Sarah starts again at the same sites to capture and band this year's new babies.
  • Sarah has approx 45 sites in NC and SC: 3 military bases each in NC &SC, 6 state parks, and 33 "paired sites" like the Ackley house.
  • The Ackley site has3 banded Buntings: Left leg bands are silver and green: The 2 colorful male Buntings in the area would not go into the cage to be banded.
  • The identifier for Sharlene’s own female Bunting has redand pink bandson the right leg.
  • Peggy’sown female Bunting is banded with fuchsia pink and greybands on the right leg.
  • The third Bunting is a young malewith dark green and light green right leg bands

If you see these birds at your feeders, please call and let Sharlene know.

The next day of observation the red banded female came to Sharlene’s the feeder 3 times during the day. It's nice to be able to tell them apart and be able to increase the bird count and add more detail to the survey.

Unfortunately, as coastal habitats continue to be developed at unprecedented levels, and as more inland shrub is cleared, these spectacular little birds are losing their homes. Sharlene is a PBOT volunteer (Painted Bunting Observer Team) playing a vital role as a citizen scientist monitoring and collecting data in her Lockwood backyard sanctuary. Prime observation hours are usually in the early morning and late afternoon through evening. Millet, a small white seed, and most wild bird seed mixes attract the Painted Bunting, although much of their diet consists of bugs.

The Painted Bunting is a summer resident breeding in the dense shrub thickets of the barrier islands and adjacent mainland. Usually placed less than 20 feet above ground, in a bush, tree, or clump of Spanish moss, the nest is a cup of grass, leaves and weed stems lined with hair or fine grass. The males arrive at their breeding sites by mid-April, followed by the females a week later.The male announces his arrival by singing from nearby perches. He will defend his territory in fierce battles. The Painted Bunting migrates southward for the winter before the end of October.

The female is solely responsible for nest construction, incubation and care of the young in the nest. The three or four eggs are white, spotted and splashed with brown. When the first brood is fledged, the male courts his mate again, taking full charge of the first brood while she cares for their second brood.

Description: A purple head, green back, and red rump and underparts make the fully adult male Painted Bunting unmistakable. The female and her youngsters are bright greenish-yellow with narrow eye rings.

Song: A dainty, cheerful, trill, unmistakable once one’s ear is trained to distinguish the melody.

To become a PBOT member or to learn more about the Painted Bunting populations in our area, please check the web site at , or contact Dr. Jamie Rotenberg, Ornithologist, Dept. of Environmental Studies, UNCW at .

References: Birds of the Carolinas, by Eloise F. Potter, James F. Parnell, and Robert B. Teulings

A Birder’s Guide to Coastal North Carolina, by John O. Russell III

Peg Meinzer