Painted Buntings...

I finally saw a Painted Bunting on our property!  I love this little bird... he is so pretty!

*Male Painted Bunting

We have lived on our small acreage since 1983 and I have fed my birds for years.  We have a creek and wooded area along the back side of our yard.  While the creek does not have any water in it during this drought, it does have water occasionally.  The area attracts a variety of birds and I am getting pretty good at identifying them.  I have used a book called "A Guide to Field Identification Birds of North America" and have learned so much.  I'm not saying you need to buy it, but if you want one, I think this book is great!  It was referred to me by a friend who was an avid birder.   They do have newer editions available though since I bought mine.

Anyway, I have learned to recognize between the males and females in a lot of species.  I have not written every bird down that I have seen, but I have seen many and have had some really great birds visit my feeders and drink from my water sources available.  While some birds are very common in this area, I have had sightings of some that are not so common.

Dennis and I were recently in our pool when he spotted the male painted bunting who had flown in to drink from our waterfall.  I was so excited because this is the first male painted bunting that I have seen on our property!  I have listened to two of our friends talk about the painted buntings at their houses, and I told them I was jealous that we have never had one here.  Our friends do not live very far from us, so I could only hope that one day the bunting would be my guest!  To my delight, we did have one stop by for a brief visit.  I should go buy some white millet, their favorite treat, and hope that he will make a new home in our wooded area!

A few days prior to seeing the male painted bunting, I saw two female painted buntings drinking from the waterfall, but I didn't realize what species they were until doing some research. 

*Female Painted Bunting

I learned that Painted buntings are drawn to running water.  Our visitors must have been really thirsty though because they came to drink while we were moving in the pool for both the male and female sightings.  I remember studying them because I had not seen this particular bird before at our house.  Such a pretty little greenish bird.  I have now seen them several times since that first sighting... always at the waterfall getting a drink. 

I have to say, this is something good that has come from the drought... it has brought the buntings to our waterfall!  With our temperatures being over 100 degrees for many days, we have had a variety of birds come in to drink.  Some birds would not be considered my favorites, but I know they are all thirsty.

I want to share a picture of an Indigo Bunting who has been to my feeders, but only seldom over the past few years.

*Male Indigo Bunting
Just a note -- The female is a brownish color for hiding in the trees with her nest.

While I don't see any of the above buntings very often, I am happy when I do!  I try to keep a variation of seeds and treats for the birds to eat.  The indigo bunting began to come to my feeders when I added a treat of seeds that included fruit and nuts, but they are expensive, so I don't have them all the time.  Thus, I'm sure, the reason I only see them seldom!

*I wish I could take credit for the pictures above, but obviously we were in the pool or without a camera, so I Googled and got these pictures of our beautiful Oklahoma birds off the internet posted by Greg Lavaty; I'm hoping he won't mind that I have shared his photos.  So for anyone who didn't know what a painted bunting or indigo bunting looked like... now you do!

I truly enjoy my birds, they are fun to watch and have certainly been educational!