Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) with us in our virtual “Birds Connect Our World” edition! Have fun learning about a new migratory bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Migratory Bird of the Day: Painted Bunting
This small passerine is an amazing rainbow coloured bird! The beautiful multi-coloured male is unmistakable with his blue head, red throat, belly and rump, and bright green back. Males also have a thin red ring around their eyes. As with other buntings these birds have a short conical bill. Females and immature birds are far less colourful—olive-green above and yellowish-green below. Despite their bright colours Painted Buntings might not always be easy to spot, with their habit of hiding amongst the vegetation and staying close to the ground.
Unlike some of the migratory birds we have seen Painted Buntings do not make epic long-distance migrations. They breed in the south-eastern US and then migrate in the fall to spend the winter in the northern Caribbean and Central America. They do not come very far south and start arriving, mainly in the Bahamas and Cuba, from October. They stay until spring and start to head north in April.
Painted Buntings can be found in brush, scrub and grassy areas. There they hunt for insects and spiders or pull the seeds off grasses. If you have a seed feeder you might get a visit from a Painted Bunting. Unfortunately, the beauty of the Painted Bunting has made them long popular as caged birds. Although trapping and international trade has been banned in many countries, birds are still trapped and sold as pets, particularly in Mexico and Cuba. Trapping and loss of their habitat are probably factors in the long-term decline of this species, which is now listed as a “species of concern.” You can help Painted Buntings and other migratory birds by providing various seeds and a source of freshwater in your backyard, and educating others not to keep wild birds as pets. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Painted Bunting!
Download the page from Migratory Birds of the West Indies Colouring Book. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #WMBD2020Carib
Listen to the call of the Painted Bunting
The call of the Painted Bunting is a loud “chip” which it might repeat.
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images below to do the puzzles. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS: Find the hidden words in our colourful Painted Bunting word search! All the words are
linked to this bird, where they migrate to, where they live and the foods that they eat. How many can you find? Here is the Answer Key!
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS:
- Take a walk and see if you can spot any migrant birds. Use a bird field guide or the FREE Merlin bird ID app to help you identify the birds you are seeing.
- Enjoy the videos below of Painted Buntings feeding! The first shows the beautiful males foraging on the ground for seeds. In the second an immature bird (which looks a lot like a female) is on some grass eating the grass seeds.
- Visit MigratoryBirdDay.org for many more free activities and resources to learn about migratory birds, their threats and conservation actions you can take.