Last winter, a very off-course Painted Bunting spent almost 4 months hanging out in Harsimus Cemetery here in Jersey City. Lots of birds go off course, especially during migration, and Painted Buntings have shown up in NJ and NYC more than a handful of times. But they’re still incredibly out of their normal range according to current range maps – their eastern range doesn’t extend farther north than North Carolina. So this guy was definitely an anomaly.
Jersey City’s own tiny celebrity!
Eventually he disappeared and that seemed to be the end of the story… Or so we all thought!
About a week ago, my friend Harri Bailey (who was the first to spot him last year too) saw what looked very much like the same male back at her feeder. Painted Buntings appear to be faithful to their breeding sites, but I couldn’t find much info about winter site fidelity. And so far out of range on top of that. So I’m choosing to believe it’s the same lil dude returning to his accidental Jersey City winter home. (What’s the opposite of a snowbird?)
-
- Is he checking me out?
-
- Painted Bunting through a mess of branches
-
- Painted Bunting vs House Sparrow!
-
- Waiting patiently
He was a celebrity last year and it seems like he’s ready for round two. Harri graciously invited me over to try to catch a glimpse of the little rainbow (last year I only caught him from way down in the cemetery). He showed up twice for quick cameos, but both times got chased off by roving packs (lol) of Mourning Doves.
Can you find the bunting?
Photographing him was its own fun challenge: shooting through a window, across a fire escape, past plant pots, bars, and a whole mess of branches, with the sun high in the sky in the background. And check out the size difference between him and a House Sparrow! Wild.
I hope to get another chance to capture some close-ups of this incredible, resilient visitor.
Can a Painted Bunting look evil?!
Leave a reply