Description

Size

A medium-sized bunting.

Plumages

Sexually dimorphic, but males do not acquire the distinctive adult plumage until a pre-basic molt in their second calendar year.

Adult:

Adult male has a mostly dark blue head: blue extends from the forecrown back across the nape, down onto the sides to the head and the throat, with a narrow feathered red eye-ring and dusky lores. The scapulars and back are yellowish green. The rump and uppertail coverts are red. The flight feathers are dusky; the lesser wing coverts are mostly dull blue, the median wing coverts dull brown or dull red, and the greater wing coverts are green. The red underparts extend from the chin to the undertail coverts. This pattern is retained year-round.

Adult female is mostly dull green, paler and yellower below, especially in the center of the breast and belly. Lores duller. This pattern is retained year-round, although a small proportion of females in alternate plumage (worn roughly between March and September) may have some blue feathers on the head.

Immature:

The Painted Bunting has a complex series of molts in the first year of life; for more details, see Molts (below), also Thompson 1991a, Lowther et al. 1999,  and Pyle 1997). Briefly, immature Painted Buntings resemble adult females in plumage. Immature females are average duller than adult females (often with a slight grayish undertone to the plumage). Immature males are brighter than immature females. A high proportion (approximately 40%) of young male Painted Buntings acquire some patches of blue feathers on the head by a prealternate molt early in the second calendar year, when the plumage otherwise remains mostly green. The multi-colored adult plumage is not attained until the following prebasic molt, late in the second calendar year.

Bare parts:

The iris is dark brown; the bill is dark brown or blackish; and the tarsi and toes are gray, brown, or dusky brown.

Geographic variation:

Two subspecies of Painted Bunting have been recognized, an eastern subspecies, ciris, and a western subspecies, pallidior (AOU 1957).  The distributions of these subspecies do not coincide with the eastern and western populations: the breeding distribution of ciris includes all of the eastern population, and also the eastern portion of the western population, in east Texas, east Oklahoma, and southeast Kansas; the remainder of the western population is occupied by pallidior. These subspecies are only weakly defined. Ciris is defined as smaller than pallidior, at least in the wing length of males. Ciris also is defined as more brightly colored than pallidior, in the red colors of the males and in the yellow-green colors of females (refs). Recent research demonstrated that variation in plumage color was greater within each of the two subspecies than between them, and that wing length of males is clinal, with no sharp breaks between ciris and pallidior; interestingly this cline also is continuous across the large gap between the western and eastern populations (Thompson 1991b). Therefore, the eastern and western  populations of Painted Bunting are difficult (often impossible) to distinguish by phenotypic characters, even in the hand (Thompson 1991b).

Nonetheless, there is indirect evidence that there is little or no gene flow between the eastern and western populations of Painted Buntings (Thompson 1991b). Perhaps the most significant The breeding distributions of the two populations are separated by a gap of 550 or more km; overlap between the two populations has not been documented during the nonbreeding season (but perhaps occurs on the Yucatan Peninsula; see Distribution, see also Sykes et al. 2007 ); and these two populations also differ in the relative timing of molts and migration (see below). 

Systematics:

The sister-species to Painted Bunting is the Varied Bunting Passerina versicolor (Klicka et al. 2001). These two buntings are members of a clade of "painted" buntings, characterized (in the adult male plumages) by the presence of in the plumage of bright colors produced by carotenoid pigments (red, yellow, and pink), and by conspicuous eye rings. The two other members of the "painted" bunting clade are the Rosita's Bunting Passerina rositae and Orange-breasted Bunting Passerina leclancherii (Klicka et al. 2001).

Molt:

The sequence of molts and plumages is:

This plumage primarily is dull brown. Sexes are similar in appearance. This plumage is replaced quickly through a presupplemental molt, which usually is initiated about two weeks after hatching.

Supplemental plumage:
Attained by a presupplemental molt, which occurs on the breeding grounds; the period of this molt extends from the beginning of June to mid-October. The presupplemental molt replaces all of the body plumage, except for primary and greater coverts. Sexes are similar in this plumage, and resemble the adult female: the plumage primarily is olive-green above and yellow-green below, but with browner, retained juvenile rectrices, remiges, primary coverts, and greater coverts. The supplemental plumage is replaced through the prebasic I molt.

Basic I plumage:
The prebasic I molt is initiated when the bird is about two months old; the molting period extends from the beginning of September through the end of November. The prebasic I molt replaces all of the rectrices; the outer primaries (P6-P9); the inner secondaries (S5-S9); and all of the body plumage, except for some or all of the primary coverts. Sexes are similar in this plumage, and resemble the adult female, except for the retained inner primaries, outer secondaries, and primary coverts. The great majority of birds in the eastern population complete the prebasic molt on the breeding grounds, prior to migrating south; in contrast, many birds in the western population migrate first to staging areas where the prebasic molt takes place, before after which molt migration resumes to take birds on the wintering grounds. The Basic I plumage is replaced through the prealternate I molt.

Alternate I plumage:
The prealternate I molt primarily takes place on the wintering grounds, between mid December and mid May. The full extent of this molt is not well-known. Only body plumage is involved during the prealternate 1 molt, but probably only some of the entire body plumage is replaced; this molt is most apparent on the head, where small patches of blue feathers may appear. The appearance of blue on the head is more prevalent in males (40% or more of males, compared to 5% of females). Other than in the plumage of the head, the sexes are similar in Alternate I plumage, and greatly resemble the adult female. This plumage is replaced through the Definitive Prebasic molt.

The definitive prebasic molt occurs from the beginning of August through mid October. As with the prebasic I molt, most individuals of the eastern population complete this molt on the breeding grounds, prior to migration; many birds of the western population do not undergo the definitive basic molt until after migrating to staging areas, away from the breeding grounds. This molt is complete. The Definitive Basic plumage of the male is the "adult male" plumage, described above (Description), and is very similar to the Definitive Alternate plumage. The plumage of the female is similar to that of the female in Definitive Alternate, but has no blue in the plumage of the head. The Definitive Basic plumage is replaced through the definitive prealternate molt.

Definitive Alternate plumage:
The definitive prealternate molt takes place from around the beginning of January until the end of May. The molt primarily takes place on the wintering grounds. The Definitive Alternatec plumage of the male is the "adult male" plumage, described above (Description); and is very similar to the Definitive Basic plumage. The Definitive Alternate plumage of the female is the "adult female" plumage, described above; it is very similar to the Definitive Basic plumage, but some females in this plumage have a few blue feathers on the head.