[Birdnet] Painted Bunting

[Mark Stackhouse]

There's no doubt that this is a Painted Bunting, but please be aware  
that they are extremely common as cage-birds in Mexico, so there's a  
very real possibility that it's an escapee, especially given the  
location. Just two weeks ago, I had a rather nasty confrontation with  
a guy sell birds on the roadside just east of here (much to the  
embarrassment of my wife and mother-in-law, who were with me). He had  
at least a half-dozen Painted Buntings for sale. A friend has told me  
that there's a street market in Guadalajara that's entirely bird  
sellers for blocks, and that she's seen cages with 50 or more buntings  
there. It's disgusting, and, I think, a largely overlooked but serious  
problem in migratory bird conservation. I'm trying to figure out a way  
to bring more attention to it and get the practice of catching and  
selling wild birds here stopped.

I'm not trying to rain on a listers parade, or influence any records  
committee votes, but I would be very suspicious of this bird as a wild  
bird. Besides the location (and well-known ethnicity of the area), the  
timing of this occurrence is curious as well. We are right after the  
Easter holiday, the biggest travel time of the year in Mexico and  
among Mexicans in the U.S. The bird sellers were out in force here in  
Mexico. It's not too hard to imagine someone traveling to Mexico for  
vacation and buying a bunting (perhaps the most numerous bird in the  
bird-sellers cages), and smuggling it back across the border.

The very few records in neighboring states (Colorado & Nevada) are, as  
far as I can glean, all from later in May and in June, so this would  
be an early date.

Personally, I'm glad I'm not on the records committee now, so I won't  
have to try and make a decision about whether this bird arrived in  
Utah on it's own wings, or in a returning vacationer's car.

Mark Stackhouse



On Apr 30, 2009, at 11:01 AM, Bill Fenimore wrote:

> I received the following e-mail from Joyce Morgan:
>
> First of all, I read Bill Fenimore's column every week in the Salt  
> Lake Tribune, and I have learned so much from it. Thank you!
>
> Now a question, I have what I am pretty sure is a Painted Bunting  
> visiting my feeders right now. My field guide says their habitat is  
> in the south and they migrate east. Is it pretty unusual to see them  
> in Utah?
>
> Photo attached. Sorry for the quality. I had to take it through a  
> somewhat dirty window.
>
> After reading Joyce's e-mail and viewing the image of the Painted  
> Bunting that is attached here, I contacted her this morning.  While  
> we were talking, the bird appeared at a platform feeder in her front  
> yard.  I asked if it would be okay if birders came by to see it.   
> She said that it would be okay.
>
> The feeders are in Joyce's Rose Park front yard at 509 North 1400  
> West, Salt Lake City.
>
> Enjoy the birds,
>
> Bill Fenimore
> 801-699-9330 Cellular<Painted Bunting by Joyce Morgan.jpg>
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