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Painted Buntings and Flying Squirrels

2,852 Views | 26 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by Allen76
duffelpud
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AG
I just spotted both for the first time at our rural property in Burleson County. Are these considered rare in this area?
"What's this button do?"
Caladan
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I don't know if flying squirrels are rare, but I've only seen a native flying squirrel once in the 16 years we have lived in the area, so I would consider them rare.

As for the Painteds, we see them quite regularly during breeding season since we have bird feeders at the back part of our lot. Some years we have some nesting nearby, and the same ones are seen multiple times a day.

Below is a picture of the squirrel on one of our feeders. I was in the back part of our lot with a flashlight one night and happened to catch a reflection from his eyes. At first I thought it was a rat, but then when I got close I could tell it wasn't. Fortunately he stayed long enough for me to run back inside and grab a camera.

[url=https://ibb.co/NCZ7hBY][/url]


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



BuddysBud
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Painted Buntings nest in rural Texas. They are rare in urban and suburban areas but they are common in Central and East Texas during the summer.

Flying squirrels are more common than most realize. Since the are nocturnal,
small, and shy, seeing them is rare unless you are looking for them.
Gilligan
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I've seen the squirrels in Pearland fly straight down. Sometimes 60' and land with a thud.

Sometimes they just seem to fall. Other times they're fighting or chasing each other.

Sometimes they have an assist.
magnumtmp
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We get the squirrels in our deer stands in Upshur county.
CS78
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duffelpud said:

I just spotted both for the first time at our rural property in Burleson County. Are these considered rare in this area?


Cool. What type of habitat was it in? Area of the county? I've looked at thousands and thousands of game camera pics from corn feeders on the north side of the lake. I've gotten pics of almost everything out there but never seen one.
MIAGD
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We have Painted Buntings at our house in Midlothian, TX (40 minutes south of Dallas). What is crazy is that we have three pair of Inca Dove. We seem pretty north of their zone as well.
BuddysBud
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MIAGD said:

We have Painted Buntings at our house in Midlothian, TX (40 minutes south of Dallas). What is crazy is that we have three pair of Inca Dove. We seem pretty north of their zone as well.


The range of painted buntings goes into Oklahoma.
Inca Doves range throughout Texas.
They are becoming more rare as white winged doves are taking over their habitats.

To attract painted buntings put millet into your feeder or use a seed blend that includes millet. The doves will also like millet.
AlphaBean
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BuddysBud said:

MIAGD said:

We have Painted Buntings at our house in Midlothian, TX (40 minutes south of Dallas). What is crazy is that we have three pair of Inca Dove. We seem pretty north of their zone as well.


The range of painted buntings goes into Oklahoma.
Inca Doves range throughout Texas.
They are becoming more rare as white winged doves are taking over their habitats.

To attract painted buntings put millet into your feeder or use a seed blend that includes millet. The doves will also like millet.


Yep, we have lots of painteds 20 minutes south of the red river!
Hewey Calloway
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Our barn cat killed a painted bunting at our place outside Fredericksburg. I had never seen one before.

Are they rare enough to give me an excuse to shoot the cat?
BuddysBud
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Apparently their population is decreasing (55% decrease in the last 30 years according to iBird). Suspected causes are parasitic nesting by brown headed cowbirds, capture for caged birds in Mexico (they are protected here but not in Mexico), and habitat loss. Changes in cowbird behavior is related to changes in habitat. Cats kill an estimated 1 billion songbirds each year.

This should give you information to decide whether or not your kitty deserves the death penalty for the murder of the most colorful songbird in the US.
BMo
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We lived across Democrat Crossing in the far SW corner of Madison Co for many years and they were regular visitors on our property every year. I didn't know what they were at the time and didn't photograph them as I do now. There are also numerous sightings in Brazos Co. every year including those that stay until migration tells them to leave. We also saw flying squirrels on occasion on the Madison Co. property.

Last year on 159 south of Millican



Last week in Kimble Co.

Allen76
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BuddysBud said:

MIAGD said:

We have Painted Buntings at our house in Midlothian, TX (40 minutes south of Dallas). What is crazy is that we have three pair of Inca Dove. We seem pretty north of their zone as well.


The range of painted buntings goes into Oklahoma.
Inca Doves range throughout Texas.
They are becoming more rare as white winged doves are taking over their habitats.

To attract painted buntings put millet into your feeder or use a seed blend that includes millet. The doves will also like millet.
We have some regulars around our house. They LOVE digging through coon crap in the middle of the county road. I presume it is the seeds, persimmon or mesquite, etc that they are getting.
4stringAg
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They are gorgeous birds. We've seen some indigo buntings at our feeders but not painted.

As for flying squirrels, only seen them years ago where my grandma in MS had a family of them nesting in an old abandoned well shed.
duffelpud
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Quote:

Cool. What type of habitat was it in? Area of the county? I've looked at thousands and thousands of game camera pics from corn feeders on the north side of the lake. I've gotten pics of almost everything out there but never seen one.

Our place is on the high, rocky, heavily wooded ridge that runs between Somerville and Clay along the old Baker Highway - not too far from the old Sawdust Ranch (Now the JJJ).

This is the best shot I could get before it disappeared:

"What's this button do?"
Mr President Elect
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My dad owned a logging company when I was a kid growing up. He would bring home baby squirrels all the time where the trees were cut down with them in the nest. Probably had 20-30 cat squirrels over the years plus a handful of fox squirrels, and they were always super social (we never caged them as we lived in a two-story log house and they enjoyed climbing all over the place) and then would just usually wonder off outside on their own at about 6 mo to a year. He brought home a set of flying squirrels once, and they were very noctornal from a very young age. We very rarely saw them and they moved out much quicker than all our other squirrels. Kind of a bummer, only got to see one of them gluide one time the entire time we had them because of how rarely they came out when we were up. So yeah, they are out there, but pretty elusive.
Allen76
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I had two friends, on separate occasions about a month apart, tell me: " I bet you will never guess what I saw the other day".

When I answered (both times) "a painted bunting", they were both shocked. It was glorious to see the look on their face.

Unless you see the color, the painted bunting is so small (sparrow sized) it goes about mostly unnoticed except by bird watchers. They live around me and they pretty much stay in a territory if possible. So if you see one, you will probably see it again in that same place.

I also have a Scarlet Tanager near my house that is the same way. It is also sparrow sized and only gets noticed when you see the bright orange/red. I see it in almost the same place about once a week.
Rattler12
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Allen76 said:

I had two friends, on separate occasions about a month apart, tell me: " I bet you will never guess what I saw the other day".

When I answered (both times) "a painted bunting", they were both shocked. It was glorious to see the look on their face.

Unless you see the color, the painted bunting is so small (sparrow sized) it goes about mostly unnoticed except by bird watchers. They live around me and they pretty much stay in a territory if possible. So if you see one, you will probably see it again in that same place.

I also have a Scarlet Tanager near my house that is the same way. It is also sparrow sized and only gets noticed when you see the bright orange/red. I see it in almost the same place about once a week.
We had a painted bunting male at the bird bath this AM..
billyjack2009
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I've never seen a painted in person. My dream bird to see. Need to get west this summer (I'm in Houston).
BuddysBud
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billyjack2009 said:

I've never seen a painted in person. My dream bird to see. Need to get west this summer (I'm in Houston).


Go East on FM 1960 to the Trinity River NWR.
They nest there during the summer.

You can also see them in rural areas around BCS and in the Hill Country.
SWCBonfire
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Not saying you will see one everyday, but we frequently see painted buntings in Gonzales co.
Junction71
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If you are ever in Junction go to South Llano River State Park. The park has 4 bird blinds and Painted Buntings visit them every day during summer. I once had 7 males in view at one time. It is probably the most reliable place in Texas to get a close photograph of one. Also, the Hill Country has the highest density of the species as any where in Texas. They love white millet and come to my feeder and water feature almost every day, at least when the house sparrows and white-winged doves aren't monopolizing the area.
BMo
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Junction71 said:

If you are ever in Junction go to South Llano River State Park. The park has 4 bird blinds and Painted Buntings visit them every day during summer. I once had 7 males in view at one time. It is probably the most reliable place in Texas to get a close photograph of one. Also, the Hill Country has the highest density of the species as any where in Texas. They love white millet and come to my feeder and water feature almost every day, at least when the house sparrows and white-winged doves aren't monopolizing the area.
That is where my second photo above is from, Juniper blind. My wife and I were there in the RV all last week. Great park.
Tony Franklins Other Shoe
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I've got one regular painted male that comes to my feeder in north SA. My yard backs up to a green belt so I see him daily, have not seen a mate yet, but I know they are much harder to spot and ID due to more muted colors. Before this year I had never seen one, but I've been more diligent in feeding this year.

Bumper crop of cardinals this year, lots of pairs and offspring.
Rattler12
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Tony Franklins Other Shoe said:

I've got one regular painted male that comes to my feeder in north SA. My yard backs up to a green belt so I see him daily, have not seen a mate yet, but I know they are much harder to spot and ID due to more muted colors. Before this year I had never seen one, but I've been more diligent in feeding this year.

Bumper crop of cardinals this year, lots of pairs and offspring.
We have just the opposite up here on the Guadalupe. We see females on a daily bases. It's the males that are elusive
labmansid
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The buntings like millet, but they really like our native grass seeds. They seem to nest in brushy areas close to fields with grasses and insects to feed their young. When we lived on a property in east Brazos county, I left patches of native grasses in the yard just so they would come around closer. I took this shot just a few feet from our back door several years ago.

Badace52
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I did the same. When I moved here four years ago (North Georgetown area) we had tons of them in the yard, but since the area got more developed and feral cats moved in, I very rarely see one now.
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Allen76
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Wow, there are some really nice close-up photos of Painted Buntings on this thread!
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