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Painted Buntings in my tomatillos

17 years ago

I spotted my first male Painted Bunting the other day in my tomatillos. Sorry, no photos, I've only seen him that one time for just a couple minutes. But once I saw him I realized the other 5 or 6 birds I've been seeing for some time now are female buntings.

I've read where they eat bugs and seeds. So my question is, are they fond of tomatillos or are they there just for the bugs? I've already lost my tomato crop to mockingbirds and other critters, should I be worried about losing my tomatillo crop to the buntings?

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Comments (4)

prairie_love
17 years ago
Oh gosh, send him here! I would happily give up my entire tomatillo crop to have that beauty in my yard.

Seriously though, I don't know the answer to your question, but I suspect he was eating bugs.
christie_sw_mo
17 years ago
Plant more! I would love to find something that would entice Painted Buntings to my yard. If you find that they ARE eating the tomatillos, I'd like to know.
Are you sure mockingbirds were eating your tomatoes? I always have a mockingbird or two hanging around my yard but so far they've left my tomatoes alone. I can't say the same for my blueberries.
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omg! i saw a painted bunting just now--twice!!!
Q
Comments (16)
Well, one of the funniest things I remember seeing was a whole passel of birds and squirrels drunk on fermented dates and pyrocanthia berries--at least I guessed that's what it was. They were definitely drunk, and that's what they were eating. I'm sure they didn't think it was funny the morning after, though. Our most interesting bird is the scrub jay. They have absolutely no fear of humans and will eat nuts and seeds right out of your hand. The next most interesting is the huge pilliated woodpecker. Their call sounds just like the birds you hear in jungle movies. I've never seen a PB live and only occasionally do we get to see a finch in its loud colors. They're still in their winter feathers when they're down here. Last year I had a titmouse w/o a wife who made love to himself in every car mirror and window reflection he saw. He visited every single window in the house as the sun moved over the house, and he pooped all over our cars. He finally found a mate which saved my sanity.
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Texas Painted Buntings at Carrie's bird feeders ...
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Comments (24)
They have a beautiful song, Linda. It took me quite some time to know where that "sound" was coming from as I had never heard it before. My first painted bunting appeared at my feeder on Easter Sunday of 2003 and they have appeared randomly since then.
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That's beautiful. I just love that bird. I'm hoping to see some this week and take pictures.
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Comments (2)
Hi there, Not sure about which part of Texas you are in, but I have 2 friends in Texas who host Painted Buntings each year. They adore White Millet. You can buy a bag of pure white millet at WBU or Tractor Supply has a mix which is largely white millet with sunflower seed mixed in.
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medcave
Original Author
17 years ago
Well it looks like the buntings were just passing through, as I haven't seen them for several days.

I'm sure the mockingbirds were eating my matters. At first they were doing a great job keeping the hornworms in check, then they must have decided the tomatos were what grew the worms, so went pecking for more. I caught them in the act then later read they like tomato seeds.
litholad
17 years ago
Both mockingbirds and blue jays eat my tomatoes. But they aren't attracted to them until they start to ripen and turn red.
I've learned to pick them at the first sign of turning color and let them ripen in the house.

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