PAINTED BUNTINGS...WOW!!!

[lovezebs]

http://rhinestonearmadillo.typepad.com/ ... 506970b-pi
I found this gorgeous looking bird picture on line, and found out that it's a 'Painted Bunting'. It is an absolutely stunning creature, that could rival many of the most beautiful finches that we dream about.

So it got me wondering, if anyone on the Forum keeps them as pets, or has ever kept them??? Can they be kept as pets?

Check them out..

~Elana~


http://www.southtexasbirders.com/wp-con ... unting.jpg

[KarenB]

Here's one I painted We get them here in Texas in spring/summer. Since they are a natural bird in the US, one cannot keep them as a pet.

[vienneparis]

lovezebs
Wow, what a stunning bird. I'd love to have a pair of those in my aviary.

@KarenB
You are lucky to get them in your area. I've never seen them here in AZ.

[KarenB]

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Painted_Bunting/id

[Rox]

They look like a painting - stunning!!! Wow, I wonder if we get those here...

[lovezebs]

Rox
I think only in the US, but not sure.

~Elana~

[lovezebs]

vienneparis
Aren't they lovely? I think they have them in certain parts of the US, but not sure exactly where. Obviously in Texas. I think we should visit Texas in the near future with our little travel cages and bird nets, eh? giggle! !!

Boy, would I love to have a pair of them!

~Elana~

I

[lovezebs]

KarenB
What a beautiful painting. That's too bad, that you can't keep them as pets, but how lucky for you to be able to see them in the Spring and Summer....... Hmmmmm......I don't live in the US, so does that mean I could come for a visit to see my Forum friends in Texas, and come home with Tripple D bra, stuffed with a couple of pretty B....... Buntings?

~Elana~

[MiaCarter]

I have a rehabber friend here in Florida who has one of these.
He doesn't fly, so I imagine that's the came into her care. I don't recall his story.
He's pretty small, but bigger than a typical finch - about the size of a sparrow or canary, but not as rotund. This particular one is quite tame -- surprisingly so, so I imagine he was rescued as a youngster.

I imagine the native species status makes them illegal for pets here in FL too.
My friend is a licensed rehabber, and as such, you're allowed to keep species that wouldn't normally be "pets". I had a rehabber's license in MA and it had a provision that allowed you to keep even protected species for an indefinite time. So even if you're not technically a sanctuary, you get to keep lots of fun creatures as a rehabber. Highly recommend it for anyone who's really knowledgeable and good with animal husbandry and rehabbing.
I'd love to get the proper licensing again at some point in the future. But not sure what I'd rehab here! In MA, my specialty was squirrels, which I've never seen here!

[Jen]

KarenB
Love your painting! You are so talented!!!

@lovezebs
I get Painted Buntings in my yard in the spring time also. They are extremely shy and sometimes hard to notice. We also get Blue Buntings by the DROVES in the spring time. I think I have pictures I'll try to find and post some. They are beautiful also!!! They usually come to my outdoor feeders along with the Rose Breasted Grosbeck. They come back to my feeders every year. Look them up. You will enjoy!!!

[Airlyn]

Karen, your painting is beautiful! You are very talented

[KarenB]

Airlyn
@Jen

Thanks. I have done 50 of those paintings in a series I call Birds Around The World. I painted them over the course of a year and a half, before I ever got into finches.

I have been a bird watcher (birder) since around 1990, and have always been a keeper of parrots, and now finches. So I am the crazy bird lady to my friends, also an artist -- though I think more people see me as an artist that don't realize I keep birds, too.

[lovezebs]

Jen
I have looked up the Blue Bunting as well. I know they're beautiful. It's funny that we search far and wide for birds from all over the world, and yet many of us have such lovelies in our back yards.

~Elana~

[isobea]

Hi everyone, I couldn't agree more. Beautiful bird and equally beautiful painting, Karen. Out here on the west coast, we don't get to see them at all. Once in the 28 years we've been in this house, I saw a Lazuli Bunting and for the last several years we've had quite a few Western Bluebirds breeding and raising their young in our neighborhood. But they don't come close to the colorful Painted Bunting.
Anyway, I love to research things (or birds) I don't know anything about so I went into my Audubon Society Field Guide first because I remembered seeing them in there before, daydreaming about one day owning such a stunning bird. Here is what the book says: Passerina ciris: 5 - 5 1/2 inches, male is perhaps the most colorful North American bird. Voice: a lively warbling whistle composed of single and double phrases and trills. Habitat: brushy field borders, clearings, stream edges. Nesting: 3 or 4 grayish-white, spotted eggs in a woven cup nest lined with fine grass or hair, in the low shelter of bushes. Range: breeds from New Mexico and Oklahoma east to Missouri and N. Carolina, and south to Mexico. Winters from the gulf states through Central America. Though the song is not particularly musical, males used to be favorite cagebirds because of their beautiful coloration. The male sings all year round except during late summer when it molts.
Next I went into one of my trusty German books on aviary and cage birds and here is what I found (I'll only add what differs from Audubon): they migrate in smaller and larger flocks through Mexico all the way to Panama and from Florida to Cuba and the Bahamas for the wintertime. The first ones were brought to England around 1750 and mainland Europe in 1870. Can be kept in a large flight or big aviary, needs lots of sunlight (to develop the brilliant colors) or substitute lighting. They are usually peaceful even around smaller birds like waxbills. Might become aggressive towards other male PBs, definitely during breeding season. Can be tamed, especially single male birds.
Not difficult to breed. Nest freestanding or open basket in small evergreen shrubs preferably thorny ones. Nesting material: mostly grasses but also fine roots, coconut fibers, sisal and such. Only the female will build the nest and also incubate the eggs. Incubation: 13 days, the young will fledge after 11 or 12 days. At that age they can't fly very well yet but are skilled at climbing around in the branches. After fledging they will be fed more and more by the male until they are fully weaned at 4 weeks old.
Food: different kinds of millet, canary seed, oat groats, some niger, rape and thistle seed, lettuce, endives, chick weed, different grasses, budding branches from fruit trees, apple, pear and banana slices, grapes and different berries. ALSO: meal worms, food for insectivorous birds, hard boiled egg, small crickets, fruit flies, aphids and sprouted seeds. All of the latter are extremely important for feeding the nestlings!

There you go, probably more than you all wanted to know, but Elana, if you should seriously consider that double D bra, at least now you can be prepared.
Iso

[lovezebs]

isobea
Thank you Iso. That was wonderful information.
Do you think they would fit into a double D???

I wonder if anyone actually breeds these guys. It would be interesting to research it. I know I wouldn't mind a pair of these lovelies.

Thanks again for the information.

~Elana~