I headed out to Ft.Fisher NC to see if the Painted Buntings had returned to the area.
After about 30 minutes of searching the area (and getting chewed up by bugs lol) I finally heard his familiar call ringing out by the wood line.
I hurried over to where I thought he’d be, looked up and just like that, there he was!
Though it took a bit of patience to wait for him to come close enough for a good photo, it was well worth the wait to get a close up look.
With every color of the rainbow showing in his plumage, this is truly a stunning bird to photograph and see in real life.
But what makes the male Painted Buntings plumage so vibrant?
As it turns out it’s a combination of feather structure and three pigments which contribute to the colorful feathers found on these handsome birds: melanin, carotenoids and porphyrins.
*Melanin-Naturally produced by the birds displays as black, brown, red and pale yellow in feathers.
* Carotenoids- Birds which display the reds, oranges and yellows in their plumage is attributed to carotenoids when they eat specific plants or insects, like spiders or grasshoppers, which eat the carotenoids the birds need for their feather colors.
* Porphyrins- A modified amino acid producing pink, brown, red and green pigmentation.
*Feather structure-That bright blue to violet head color is actually a trick of the light.
When sunlight passes through certain proteins and pockets of air trapped between feather barbules — tiny filaments extending from the barbs of a feather — it refracts, just like light passing through a prism.
Look for these guys in our coastal areas in scrubby wet areas, at the edges of woods and open fields.
They will stick around North Carolina until October so we’ve got plenty of time to enjoy them this year.
In fact, I’m planning on heading back out to this area several times this year to see them again so I’ve added new tour dates for 2021 to find the Painted Bunting,
If you’d like to join me, hit the link below to see the available Ft.Fisher tour dates 🙂
https://birdwatchingnc.com/birdwatching-n-c-trips-birding-in-north-carolina/birding-at-ft-fisher-north-carolina-trips/
I can’t wait!!
Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
#5Ds