The timeless wonder of the painted bunting amid nature’s flux

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Nature is always changing. For some reason, people always think that everything stays the same. But when it comes to nature, it is never the same and is always changing. Nature is in constant flux. It’s how nature works.

I have experienced the constant changing of nature many times. Over the past 40 years of working as a wildlife photographer, I have seen this happen over and over again. It is a very familiar tune. Once incredible opportunities to photograph or study a particular critter were so good, then something changes, and suddenly, it is no longer available.

So, with that in mind, a little over 20 years ago, I had a wonderful opportunity to meet the “Bunting Lady” in southern Florida. At the time, she was running a daycare center but also liked feeding birds. She put out several feeders and had the most amazing birds coming in, including the famed painted bunting (Passerina ciris).

The male painted bunting is often suggested to be the most beautiful bird in North America. This has led to its nickname “nonpareil,” which is French for “without equal.” And I would have to agree with that name. This bird is definitely without equal in visual splendor.

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The painted bunting is about the size of a sparrow. The male has a dark blue head, a vibrant green back, and a blazing red chest, belly, and rump. The female is a dull yellow-green without any markings, making her less noticeable due to her drab appearance. The first time you see an adult male painted bunting, you can’t believe your eyes. The vibrancy of this bird is unmatched by others in North America. While there are many colorful birds in Central and South America, for us, this bird is the most spectacular.

The painted bunting is a shy and secretive bird that is often difficult to see, let alone capture in images. They tend to stay in thick vegetation, only coming out to feed, or during the breeding season, when males sometimes perch in the open to sing their songs to attract mates and defend territories.  

These birds are short-distance migrants. They nest along the northern coast of Florida, in Georgia, and into the Carolinas. For winter, they move to southern Florida and into the Bahamas. A western population found in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma migrates to Mexico and Central America for the winter. This population is declining rapidly due to illegal trapping and selling of these birds in the pet trade, a significant issue pushing them closer to extinction. Overall, the population of the painted bunting is trending downward.

Last week, while leading a photo tour across the state of Florida, I got a crazy idea to stop by a location where, more than 20 plus years earlier, I had a wonderful opportunity to photograph a painted bunting. I figured there was about a 1 percent chance that the Bunting Lady would still be living on the property, still feeding the buntings, or that the buntings were still coming around because everything in nature changes, right?

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When I pulled up to the property, the layout of the house and feeders didn’t match my memory of where I had been 20 years before. I drove slowly by, looking for any bird feeders or signs of the buntings. That is when I saw the homeowner in the yard. I quickly pulled in and got out. Unbelievably, it was the Bunting Lady. She was still there and amazingly still feeding the buntings.

I was so happy to see her, and we spent a few minutes getting caught up and figuring out just how long it’s been since I was there last. I was thrilled to be invited onto her property to see and photograph the famed painted bunting once again. 

We set up near one of the bird feeding stations. Since it was midday, the birds weren’t as active as they would be in the morning. However, we didn’t have to wait too long before three female painted buntings showed up at the feeder. A few minutes later, we spotted a flash of bright red deep in the shrubs next to the feeder. Soon after, the brightly colored male made its way to the edge of the shrub, took one last hop, and paused on an open twig in a perfect spot.

The male bunting stayed on the branch, giving us plenty of time to focus and compose a stunning image of this amazing-looking bird. Of course, I couldn’t believe that after all these years, nothing had changed, and the Bunting Lady was still enjoying these magical birds, and more importantly, she was willing to let me stay and photograph the birds. Perhaps not everything changes. Until next time …

Editor’s note: Stan Tekiela’s NatureSmart column appears twice a month in the Eden Prairie Local News. Tekiela is an author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer who travels extensively across the United States to study and capture wildlife images.

You can follow his work on Instagram and Facebook. He can be contacted via his website at www.naturesmart.com.