Painted Buntings

I am also posting my first picture on this forum and very much an amateur bird watcher. Thought you might enjoy this picture of 2 male painted buntings.

Great pic! I sure wish those guys would live in my yard. They only make short visits while migrating. :-(

Fantastic birds. I wish that both the birds and the yard would live in my yard. It looks so beautiful.

Nice shot of the two Buntings. So far this year I only have one adult male, but have several young males.

Boy would I love to see one of these beauties...they look like they were posing for you!

Nice job fauna! Their beautiful!

Margaret is right about wnating your yardin MY yard! Those beautiful birds must feel right at home there!

They're so beautiful and you did great on your picture. When you get tired of these beauties, send them west please. I'd love to see them in person.

Thanks, guys! Glad you enjoyed the pics. I got really lucky with this shot- there are two pairs, but the pics with females were blurry. I'll try to get some more pictures this weekend and use the tripod. Happy New Year!

I am SO jealous! It almost looks like there could be a third bird around the corner from the one on the right.

Hmmm, CLB- good eye! I recogize their chirp now....sort of a high pitched version of a cardinal.....forgive my layman's expression, but it is short and chirpy. From the sound of it tonight, there were at least 3 males- two at the feeder and one in a sabal palm nearby, so you could be right.

Here is another picture from that day.....these guys come out first thing in the morning and last at night....and everybody takes their turn at the feeder. Here is a quick moment before the bravest bunting left as a red bellied woodpecker had arrived.

They love the kind of dense growth you have there. I know mine love being able to fly into the shrubbery at the first sign of danger.

Hello. I have some stupid questions. I guess I thought if I used a pic I already had of our active feeder it might help.

I have some new feeders- questions relate to that. We have five acres with open and dense shrubby areas and a wrap around porch. The active feeder is in front of the house where we can see it from the porch. It is hung out in a fairly open spot, but there are dense crotons nearby. Another area is directly off the corner of the porch- a small tree with a feeder that is not filled very often because it is not squirrel proof. I have not noticed finches at our property, but have at neighbors'.

So, feeder #1 is a finch feeder. Does anyone have some advice about placement?

Feeder #2 + 3 are hummingbird feeders. I have never put them out before. Should I put each type of bird feeder away from the others? Can I put the hummingbird feeder right off the wrap around porch?

Any advice or websites you are willing to share is much appreciated. Thank you!

Hi fauna, Here is what Hummingbirds ,net says:

Location, Location, Location
Where to hang your feeder? A new one may be found sooner if hung over or near a garden of hummingbird plants. My feeders are near windows, where I can watch and enjoy them: one is in a living room window, another outside the kitchen, and a third hangs a foot or so from my office window.

Some people feel that a hummingbird feeder should not be placed close to a window unless there's a drawn curtain or blind behind it, to avoid injury from striking the glass. Other ways to alert birds that the window is not a clear flyway are to add cutouts of predatory birds, windsocks, or decorative flags (on the outside). I've never had a hummer strike my windows (although a few have been pushed bodily into the glass by aggressive territory defenders), and I have mini-blinds that seem to be a good deterrent even when tilted open.

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I have mine within 3-4 feet of my plants that Hummingbirds like and beyond that is a tree. They hang off the further end of my deck where I can sit and watch or take pictures of them.

I don't like to put the hummer feeders too close to the bird feeders but that's just my personal preference.

Hope this helped. Pelle

Thanks, Pelle. Unfortunately all my hummer plants are way in the back yard, but I'm hoping maybe it will contribute to the collective attractive factor for the property......... we shall see what happens!

I got some shots of the female this weekend. This was the culmination of many- by now she was looking straight at me.

I think there was just this one pair this weekend (male was on the backside.) At most there were 3 males and at least 2 pairs. They may be already moving North and if so I hope they come back next year.

I'm sure they'll be back fauna. They know your address now. :-)