Christmas Buntings: I had never before in my life seen a painted bunting. A pair spends the winter at the nearby wetlands, but I had never seen them. Last year we moved into a home...

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

I had never before in my life seen a painted bunting. A pair spends the winter at the nearby wetlands, but I had never seen them. Last year we moved into a home which backs up to a small preserve area. I put out bird feeders, and was shocked one day to look out and see a petite beautiful green bird at the feeder. I was pretty sure that it was a female painted bunting - and sure enough, a male soon showed up. I now have two pair of regulars, with a third and fourth pair occasional visitors - this morning at one point I had four males at the feeders. They like the mixed seed with millet. They would not eat the thistle seed I hung for them, contrary to the advice I have seen online. These two feeders are squirrel-proof feeders - the one is inside a cage that only allows small birds to enter - well, and one small squirrel - I have one that can wedge his way into it and pull seeds out with a paw. The other feeder is a Perky Pet feeder that has spring-loaded baffles that slide down to cover the feeding ports if a squirrel climbs on it. It is fun to watch the grackles fight over it - one grackle can get food, but if a second one lands, the baffles slide down. I have other feeders with baffles on the posts that prevent squirrels from climbing up, but using these two feeders allows me to place them under a tree (where squirrels can inspect them but not pilfer the seeds), where the small birds are sheltered from passing hawks (which swoop over about once a morning...). My bird guide says that buntings "are only occasionally seen at feeders". I guess I should feel special :)

The morning sun was hitting the feeders this morning, providing more than the usual light present under the tree. These photos are taken with a Canon 6D (Version 1) and a Canon 100-400mm lens (Version 1). These birds are very skittish. I do not have a blind, but have removed a window screen, opened the window, and shot these from inside the house. They are fairly heavily cropped. The AF focuses on the cage and not the feeder and my vision is not such that I can fine-tune the manual focus better than that... (That's enough reason to get an R6, right?) I have just connected the Wifi in the camera to my phone and after Christmas will set the Camera on a tripod in the yard closer to the feeders and trigger it remotely with my phone and see what I can get.

The buntings head slightly north up to Georgia or so in the springtime to nest, and just returned here a few weeks ago. Always exciting to have them come back!

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kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Beautiful set. I am within their range but have only seen them once. Indigos are a little more common in my area.

NMGal Loc: NE NM

Great captures.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

NMGal wrote:

Great captures.

Thanks. Merry Christmas

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

kpmac wrote:

Beautiful set. I am within their range but have only seen them once. Indigos are a little more common in my area.

Thanks - Merry Christmas

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

sb wrote:

I had never before in my life seen a painted bunting. A pair spends the winter at the nearby wetlands, but I had never seen them. Last year we moved into a home which backs up to a small preserve area. I put out bird feeders, and was shocked one day to look out and see a petite beautiful green bird at the feeder. I was pretty sure that it was a female painted bunting - and sure enough, a male soon showed up. I now have two pair of regulars, with a third and fourth pair occasional visitors - this morning at one point I had four males at the feeders. They like the mixed seed with millet. They would not eat the thistle seed I hung for them, contrary to the advice I have seen online. These two feeders are squirrel-proof feeders - the one is inside a cage that only allows small birds to enter - well, and one small squirrel - I have one that can wedge his way into it and pull seeds out with a paw. The other feeder is a Perky Pet feeder that has spring-loaded baffles that slide down to cover the feeding ports if a squirrel climbs on it. It is fun to watch the grackles fight over it - one grackle can get food, but if a second one lands, the baffles slide down. I have other feeders with baffles on the posts that prevent squirrels from climbing up, but using these two feeders allows me to place them under a tree (where squirrels can inspect them but not pilfer the seeds), where the small birds are sheltered from passing hawks (which swoop over about once a morning...). My bird guide says that buntings "are only occasionally seen at feeders". I guess I should feel special :)

The morning sun was hitting the feeders this morning, providing more than the usual light present under the tree. These photos are taken with a Canon 6D (Version 1) and a Canon 100-400mm lens (Version 1). These birds are very skittish. I do not have a blind, but have removed a window screen, opened the window, and shot these from inside the house. They are fairly heavily cropped. The AF focuses on the cage and not the feeder and my vision is not such that I can fine-tune the manual focus better than that... (That's enough reason to get an R6, right?) I have just connected the Wifi in the camera to my phone and after Christmas will set the Camera on a tripod in the yard closer to the feeders and trigger it remotely with my phone and see what I can get.

The buntings head slightly north up to Georgia or so in the springtime to nest, and just returned here a few weeks ago. Always exciting to have them come back!

I had never before in my life seen a painted bunti... (show quote)

Spectacular good fortune and beautifully captured 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈