Thank you.

The female is all brown. Only the male is blue.

Not usually... That one looks like it has some sort of pigmentation abnormality.... or maybe not. Is it covered in something yellow on the breast.

In addition to Sexy's observation, Is it's beak crossed? The beak coloring is off.

So apparently after I looked into it, there have been a few sightings of similar painted buntings with beak abnormalities and yellow orange breasts and also when the birds are kept in captivity, their breast will lighten to that color as well. Sounds to me like a dietary problem causing the colors to lighten.

I have heard that painted buntings are captured for pets in parts of Mexico. Perhaps this one escaped or was let go after being held captive for a while.

I posted this in a couple of my birding groups last night. One person said she saw one similar a year or two ago. I did find a photo on Google that looked the same as this one. It's not a substance discoloring the feathers. It even affects the feathers that form the eye ring.

Apparently it's a very uncommon anomaly in coloration. Maybe it lacks production of the red, or magenta, portion of the pigment which allows the yellow to come through by itself. There are also rare occurrences of totally yellow Northern Cardinals I have seen reported over the years. So something similar must occur in different species in rare instances.

I could be wrong, but I don't think the beak is crossed or deformed. Maybe the odd coloration of it gives that impression. Here is a different angle on it.

https://imgur.com/a/D3G6IlB

Well captive birds definitely fade to this color. And the same anomaly in pigmentation affecting captive birds also lightens the eye ring. Several animals get boosts in pigmentation based on parts of their diets. In birds, the most notable example is flamingoes which turn white without the small invertebrates that make up their diet in the wild.

I have seen the pigmentation deficiency in the yellow cardinals, and this just isn't quite as uniform a discoloration that is being seen in SW painted buntings.

Caladan said:

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I shot a painted bunting today.


[url=https://ibb.co/drnqLyz][/url]



Anyone know what the little spotted brown bird is?

Also, the pics aren't as sharp here as they are on my iPad. Anyone know what I am doing wrong?

C

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I'm not positive, but your bird in question looks like a Swainson's Thrush to me. They are pretty common this time of year. I have had one around my place the last few days.

Good job on the pics!

Scratch that...looks like labman has it right. Swainson's Thrush look right to me.

It is a thrush. I am also going with a Swainson's Thrush

That is a black and white warbler.

labmansid said:

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I'm not positive, but your bird in question looks like a Swainson's Thrush to me. They are pretty common this time of year. I have had one around my place the last few days.

Good job on the pics!

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Thanks!

I wish I knew why the pics are showing up with less resolution. They are actually pretty sharp on my ipad.

C