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Birds of Zihuatanejo

CLASS AVES

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Chordates (Phylum Chordata)

-Vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata)

-Birds (Class Aves)

-Perching Birds (Order Passeriformes)

-Cardinals and Allies (Family Cardinalidae)

-North American Buntings (Genus Passerina)

-Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)


The Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) is North America's most colourful songbird, famous for the male's stunning blue head, green back, red rump, and red underparts, earning it nicknames like "nonpareil" (without equal). Females and juveniles are a more camouflaged, bright green/yellow-green. These small finch-like birds inhabit dense shrubs and forest edges in the southeastern and south-central U.S., feeding on seeds and insects, and are known for their secretive nature despite their bright plumage.

Painted Bunting - Female

Passerina ciris

Diet

  • Primarily seeds of grasses, weeds, and other herbaceous plants.

  • During the breeding season, feeds heavily on insects, including caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, flies, ants, and spiders.

  • Also eats berries and other small fruits, particularly during migration and winter.

  • Forages mainly on the ground or in low shrubs, often in dense vegetation.

Range

  • Breeds in the south-central and southeastern United States and in northeastern Mexico.

  • Winters from southern Mexico through Central America, the Caribbean, and locally into northern South America.

  • A regular winter visitor to the Zihuatanejo region, where it inhabits tropical dry forests, thorn scrub, woodland edges, brushy fields, gardens, and dense second-growth.

  • Prefers dense shrubby cover during the non-breeding season.

Male / Female

  • Male: One of North America's most colourful birds, with a brilliant blue head, bright red underparts, green back, and dark wings and tail.

  • Female: Bright yellow-green to olive-green overall with slightly darker wings and tail; lacks the male's vivid multicoloured plumage.

  • First-year Male: Resembles the female but gradually moults into the colourful adult plumage during its second year.

  • The sexes are easily distinguished by their dramatically different plumage.

Size

  • Length: 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in)

  • Wingspan: 21–23 cm (8.3–9.1 in)

  • Weight: 13–19 g

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