Bird Finder for January 28: Painted Bunting in Stamford
by Tom Andersen, Connecticut Audubon Society’s Director of Communications January 28 — A male Painted Bunting that showed off its best colors in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park was the darling of the media and a hit with scores of observers for weeks late last year. Stamford’s Cove neighborhood has had its own male Painted Bunting lately but the crowds and attention have been far less intense, which can make for better viewing – if it happens to show up. It did not this afternoon. I spent an hour and a half standing in the surprisingly mild January sun waiting for it, to no avail. But from what I was told, its absence was a rarity and should not dissuade birders from trying to see it. As luck would have it, the Painted Bunting has been frequenting the yards of David Winston and his neighbors, on Cove Road. David is a friendly and enthusiastic birder and is involved in maintaining the Cove Island bird sanctuary. He told me the bunting has appeared in his yard each day since January 16 and, amazingly, he and others think it is the same Painted Bunting that has been returning to Stamford’s Cove neighborhood for eight years (and definitely not the Brooklyn bird). Painted Buntings are southern birds – they breed in the south central part of the United States, as well as along the southeastern coast. Andy Griswold, our EcoTravel director, points out that travelers on their April trip to Texas see it regularly. David Winston took the accompanying photo; the bottom photo is a different bird and is from Carolinabirds.org (by Doug Janson). As you can see, if the bird shows itself, it is unmistakeable – “a vivid fusion of blue, green, yellow, and red,” is how Allaboutbirds.com describes it. Chris Bosak wrote about the bird for the Norwalk Hour. 
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