0 the painted bunting (passerina ciris) is a species of bird in the cardinal family , cardinalidae , that is native to north america .
1  the bright plumage of the male only comes in the second year of life; in the first year they can only be distinguished from the female by close inspection .
2 the painted bunting was one of the many species originally described by linnaeus in his eighteenth century work systema naturae .
3  there are four recognized subspecies of the painted bunting:the male painted bunting is often described as the most beautiful bird in north america and as such has been nicknamed nonpareil , or "without equal" .
4  its colors , dark blue head , green back , red rump , and underparts , make it extremely easy to identify , but it can still be difficult to spot since it often skulks in foliage even when it is singing .
5  the plumage of female and juvenile painted buntings is green and yellow-green , serving as camouflage .
6  once seen , the adult female is still distinctive , since it is a brighter , truer green than other similar songbirds .
7  adult painted buntings can measure 1214 cm (4.75.5 in) in length , span 2123 cm (8.39.1 in) across the wings and weigh 1319 g (0.460.67 oz) .
8 the juveniles have two inserted moults in their first autumn , each yielding plumage like an adult females .
9  the first starts a few days after fledging replacing the juvenile plumage with an auxiliary formative plumage; the second a month or so later giving the formative plumage .
10 the painted bunting occupies typical habitat for a member of its family .
11  it is found in thickets , woodland edges with riparian thickets , shrubbery and brushy areas .
12  in the east , the species breeds in maritime hammocks and scrub communities .
13  today , it is often found along roadsides and in suburban areas , and in gardens with dense , shrubby vegetation .
14  the wintering habitat is typically the shrubby edges along the border of tropical forests or densely vegetated savanna .
15  the breeding range is divided into two geographically separate areas .
16  these include southern arizona , southern new mexico , southern and eastern texas , oklahoma , arkansas , louisiana , northern florida , coastal georgia , the southern coast and inland waterways such as the santee river of south carolina and northern mexico .
17  they winter in south florida , cuba , the bahamas , along both coasts of mexico and through much of central america .
18  occasionally , they may be vagrants further north , including to new york pennsylvania and new jersey .
19  the bird is also found every few years as far north as new brunswick , canada .
20 painted buntings are shy , secretive and often difficult to observe for the human eye , though can be fairly approachable where habituated to bird feeders .
21  males sing in spring from exposed perches to advertise their territories .
22  they also engage in visual displays including flying bouncingly like a butterfly or in an upright display , body-fluff display , bow display and wing-quiver display .
23  these displays are used in agonistic conflicts with other males or in breeding displays for females , with females rarely engaging in displays .
24  occasionally , males may physically clash with each other and may even kill each other in such conflicts .
25  when their breeding season has concluded , buntings migrate by night over short to medium distances .
26  western birds (arizona and northern mexico) molt in mid-migration , while eastern birds tend to molt before they migrate .
27 painted buntings often feed by hopping along the ground , cautiously stopping every few moments to look around .
28  the painted bunting regularly eats a large quantity of grass seeds , including; panicum , amaranthus , oxalis , euphorbia and carex .
29  seeds are eaten almost exclusively during winter .
30  while breeding , painted bunting and nestlings mainly eat small invertebrates , including; spiders , snails , grasshoppers , caterpillars and other insects .
31  they have been known to regularly visit spider webs to pick off small insects caught in them .
32 painted buntings are mostly monogamous and are solitary or in pairs during the breeding season , but sometimes exhibit polygyny .
33  the breeding season begins in late april and lasts through to early august , with activity peaking mid-may through to mid-july .
34  the male arrives about a week before the female and starts to establish a small territory .
35  the nest is typically hidden in low , dense vegetation and is built by the females and woven into the surrounding vegetation for strength .
36  each brood contains three or four gray-white eggs , often spotted with brown , which are incubated for around 10 days until the altricial young are hatched .
37  the female alone cares for the young .
38  the hatchlings are brooded for approximately 12 to 14 days and then fledge at that time .
39  about 30 days after the first eggs hatch , the female painted bunting usually lays a second brood .
40  nests are often parasitized by cowbirds .
41  common predators at the nest of eggs , young , and brooding females are large snakes , including coachwhip snakes , eastern kingsnakes , eastern racers and black rat snakes .
42  bird-hunting raptors , including short-tailed hawks , accipiter hawks , and even the small passerine loggerhead shrike , may hunt painted buntings , including the conspicuous breeding-plumaged male .
43  the painted bunting can live to over 10 years of age , though most wild buntings probably live barely half that long .
