Painted bunting at forest glen, Pittsburgh, 19 Dec 2025 (photo by Steve Gosser)

27 December 2025

In mid-December an iNaturalist report from a home near Frick Park reported a very rare bird — a painted bunting (Passerina ciris) at a backyard feeder in Squirrel Hill. Birders soon discovered where it was and were welcomed by the homeowner and the next door neighbor, my friend Maren Cooke. Since then more than 110 people seen the bird, some as recently as yesterday morning.

Painted buntings are truly rare birds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their normal range extends to Kansas and South Carolina in summer but they retreat to Central America and Florida in winter.

Painted bunting range map, all seasons (map from eBird Science)

Note the winter dot at Virginia Beach, above. Painted buntings are known to wander in fall and winter because they eat seeds and can survive without insects. The purple squares on the eBird map below are painted bunting reports since 2020. Individual birds have shown up as far north as Newfoundland, Canada in the last 5 years.

eBird Species Map for painted bunting, 2020 to 2025

Many of my friends visited the Painted Bunting Stakeout on 19 December and got stunning photos. Steve Gosser was lucky to capture it in a natural setting with snowflakes. Charity Kheshgi photographed it on the feeder with fellow red birds, male northern cardinals.

Painted bunting with northern cardinals at forest glen, Pittsburgh, 19 Dec 2025 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

I’m sure this bird will have visitors today because this is Pittsburgh’s Christmas Bird Count day. More news tomorrow — especially about crows!