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.
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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 has 3 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.
1. The identifier for Sharlene’s own female Bunting has red and pink bands on the right leg.
2. Peggy’s own female Bunting is banded with fuchsia pink and grey bands on the right leg.
3. The third Bunting is a young male with 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 www.uncw.edu/paintedbuntings , or contact Dr. Jamie Rotenberg, Ornithologist,
Dept. of Environmental Studies, UNCW at pbot.mns@ncmail.net.
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