I loved this guy because he appeared upset when I called him with nothing to offer. The painted bunting (Passerina ciris) is one of North America's most vividly colored songbirds, with the adult male sporting an almost impossibly bright combination of a deep blue head, red underparts and rump, and a green back, earning it nicknames like "nonpareil" (French for "without equal"). Females and immature males, by contrast, are a uniform bright yellow-green overall, providing effective camouflage in the dense vegetation they inhabit. The species breeds in two disjunct populations—one across the south-central United States and northern Mexico, and another along the southeastern Atlantic coast—favoring shrubby thickets, woodland edges, and overgrown fields, then migrates to winter in southern Florida, Mexico, and Central America. Painted buntings are somewhat secretive despite their brilliant coloring, often staying hidden in dense cover, and males sing a sweet, warbling song from concealed perches to defend territory. They forage mainly on seeds and insects, and historically the males' spectacular plumage made them popular in the caged-bird trade, a practice that contributed to population declines in some areas.
