Mystery Bird: Painted Bunting, Passerina ciris

Are you on a roll, GS? That amazing green dorsal color ought to tell the story.

GrrlScientist looks away from her 'scope for a moment to consider pete's question. a couple mystery bird fans use this opportunity to have a quick peek at the bird for themselves.

"i just show you what i am seeing," she responds. "i can't change what is sitting there in front of my eyes."

with that, she picks up her binoculars to continue searching for more birds while the many other mystery bird fans crowd around the 'scope for their own look at this special bird.

This is lovely! And, I think, a helpful lesson for me.

This looks like another seed beak, and the bird has dark legs, and looks the right shape for a bunting. And, conveniently, male Painted buntings are pretty green looking (according to my Sibley's) from Nov to July of their first year. So, I'm guessing it's an immature male Painted bunting. And once again, I more than half expect I'm wrong. But it's fun to try!

Good call, Bardiac, although I don't think we can tell the sex on this bird. Females are this color from their first winter.

On the other hand, I think you nailed the age. If you look near the bend of the wing, there are a number of feathers there that look paler and perhaps more worn than the rest. This, I believe, is a molt limit -- some passerines in their first year don't molt completely out of the juvenile plumage, typically leaving some of the older outer wing coverts to contrast with the new feathers elsewhere. This fine detail is more the territory of banders, though, so if I got this wrong, hopefully someone will correct me.

very interesting observation, psweet. now that you mention it, those feathers are rather worn, aren't they? not something i initially noticed, but this is important for (potentially) identifying age/sex of this bird.