Vagrancy of Painted Bunting

d rmu Steven G. Mlodinow co,and there are isolated breeding populations buntingstypically first appear m earlyApril in eastern and southern New Mexico (Lowther (Lowery1974, Turcotte and Watts 1009). In 4819Gardner Avenue et al. 1999).The wintering range of thiswest- the TexasPanhandle, Oklahoma, Missouri, ernpopulation extends northward to southern and Kansas,first arrivals usually appear in Everett,Washington 98203 Sinaloain thewest and central Tamaulipas in earlyMay (Thompsonand Ely 1991,Baum- (email:[email protected]) the east (Howell and Webb 1995). gartnerand Baumgarmer 1992, Robbins and Theeastern population of PaintedBunting Easterla1992, Seyfert 2001), although peak migratesnorthward from March through mid- arrivaltime can be later in May(Robbins and May.March is peakmigration time in theBa- Easterla1992). Fall migrationis evidentin Robert A. Hamilton hamasand Cuba (Raffaeleet al. 1998). In thewestern population from mid- or lateJuly 34 RivoAlto Canal southernFlorida, the datesof 31 building- throughOctober (Thompson 1991, Russell killedindividuals ranged from ll Aprilto 10 andMonson 1998). In theTexas panhandle, LongBeach, California 90803 May(Taylor and Kershner 1986), though ap- adultmales have almost entirely departed be- parentmigrants have been noted from late foremid-August, with females and young re- ([email protected])Marchthrough June (Stevenson and Ander- maininguntil mid-September (Seyffert 2001). son 1994).In Georgia,spring migrants have All agesdepart Kansas prior to thebeginning beenreported as early as I5 March,but most of September(Thompson and Ely 1991).To arrive from mid- the south, in ABSTRACT April to earlyMay Louisiana and Mis- This paperreviews extralimital reports of (Beatonet al. 2003), sissippi,southbound PaintedBunting (Passerina ciris)--in the con- and arrivals in North migrantsare evident textof its usualmigratory patterns, popula- Carolinaare mainly from late August tion changes,and historyin the cagebird from late April to through October trade--anddocuments a recent surge in ex- mid-May (Fussell (Lowery1974, Tur- tralimitalreports in areasnorth and westo[ 1994). Southbound cotte and Watts breedingareas. migrationof eastern 1999). Notably,at birds after the breed- least 60% of western OVERVIEW ing seasonis not as PaintedBuntmgs, m- Breedingdistribution, migration, and .x cludingallage class- populationtrends springapparent migration,astheat ,, ,,•, •,' es,migrate south- least in continental westward to areas in PaintedBuntings have two populationsthat areas. Numbers start northwestern Mexi- arcwidely separated geographically. The east- to decline in North co (and formerly ern populationbreeds on the coastalplain Carolinaas earlyas Arizona) to begin from central North Carolina to central Florida early August, and Thismale Painted Bunting atHidden Valley Campground, Nor- prc-basicmolt prior mandale,Ontario, was photographed 9 August 2004, the twenti- andwinters, at leastin part,in southernFlori- most are gone by to continuingon to da, the northernBahamas, and Cuba(Steven- October (Fussell ethrecord for this province. Inthe not-too-distant past,male PaintedBuntings outof range were considered likely escapees winteringlocations sonand Anderson 1994, gaffaele et al. 1998, 1994). Similarly, fromcaptivity, especially when found at feeders, asthe species (Thompson1991a, Lowther et al. 1999). Given that Painted most Painted oftenis. As records ofextralimilal Painted Buntings have in- 1992). In Sonora, Buntingsarc distinctly more common during Buntingshave de- creasedinrecent decades, however, patterns ofoccurrence have one regionin which migrationin the Bahamasand Cuba(gaffaele parted Georgia by emergedthat strongly support wild provenante inmost cases. In this stagingoccurs, et al. 1998),it seemslikely that some of these the end of Septem- theeastern population, males acquire their colorful plumage in the first individuals eastern birds continue on to winter elsewhere ber (Beaton et al. theirsecond autumn before migrating; thesingle green rectrix in this•ndividual suggests asecond-year bird,but plumage isnotori- arrive in midduly, (e.g.,Mexico or CentralAmerica), but there is 2003). Apparentmi- ouslyvariable inthe species. Photograph byBrandon Bolden. and numberspeak asyet no directevidence to supportthis no- gration dates in frommid-August to tion.The western population breeds from cen- Floridarange from mid- or lateJuly through mid-October.Only one winter report and one tralMississippi north through the southwest- at least mid-November (Stevensonand An- springreport are published from Sonora (Rus- ern cornerof Tennesseeto southernMissouri; derson),and in the West Indies,southbound sell and Monson 1998). Eastern Painted fromthere, the breeding range extends west- migrantsstart to appearin mid-Octoberand Buntingslargely. undergo prc-basic molt on ward throughsouthern Kansas and then peakin November(Raffaele et al. 1998). their breedinggrounds (Thompson 1991a, southward to include most of Oklahoma and Springmigration of thewestern population 1992)--a verydifferent strategy that has led Texas;the southern edge of thebreeding range is notedin theUnited States from early April someto suggestthat thesetwo populations extends from eastern Chihuahua east to Nue- intoat leastmid-May. In southernareas, such representdistinct species (Thompson 1991b, vo Leonand northwestern Tamaulipas, Mexi- as Mississippiand Louisiana,northbound Sibleyand Monroe 1993). 172 NORTH AMERICAN BIRD The western population of Painted Buntingshas undergone a declinesince the mid-1960s,wilh BreedingBird Surveydata showinga significant trend of -3.2%per year for 1966-1995, most of which occurredfrom 1966-1979;from 1980-1995,no significant trends were noted (Sauer et al. 1997). Ob- serversin lhe EdwardsPlateau of Texasreport noapparent decline in thespecies there in recent decades(G. Lasfey,M. Lockwood,in litt.). The easternpopulation also showed a decline (-4.0% per year) in the period 1966-1995 (Sauerel al. 1997), but Lowtheret al. (1999)suggested that the data on the easternpopulation be interpreted with caution. In the UnitedStates, it becameillegal to possesslive Painted Buntings after 1913, but continuedillegal traffic in thespecies caused Massachusetts'reports to be treatedw•th sus- Figure1. ReportsofPainted Bunting from Bermuda, Virginia, Maryland, andDelaware (1961-March 2005). In all Figures, months are picion and suppressedinto the 1950s dividedinto thirds, and only the initial date of detection ofan individual birdis registered (asin subsequent figures). Not included in (Griscomand Snyder1955): New Yorkre- thishistogram are10-11 Virginia reports and one Delaware report, owing toinsufficient data. One report from Maryland involving an portswere published but similarly flagged as apparentlyreturning individual included dates only for the initial year of discovery; subsequent yearsare not registered inthis Figure. questionableinto the early 1960s (Bull 1964, Levine1998). In Mexico,trapping, selling, be properlyreported (e.g., the seizureof other than a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service andpossessing native birds are still common PaintedBuntings at theLos Angeles pet store band(San Miguel and McGrath, in press). practices.Between 1984 and 2000, more than in 1990,reported by Garrett,does not appear 100,000Painted Buntings were trapped for in thereport obtained through the Freedom of Variationsin plumage domestictrade in Mexicoalone (Ifiigo-Elias et InformationAct). In Washington.a long-time The redcolor of adultmale Painted Buntings' al. 2002).Visits to pel shopsand street mar- U.S.Fish & WildlifeService agent stated that uppertailcoverts and ventralplumage is de- kets within Mexico bear this out. For in- noillegal captive Painted Buntings have been pendenton carotenoids(Thompson 1991b) stance,a totalof 555 PaintedBuntings were encounteredin that state(K. Aanerud,in litt.). that mustbe obtainedthrough diet, so that recordedduring 13 visitsto northernBaja Several North American and Mexican re- birdseating a diet deficientin thisnutrient Californiapet shopsfrom February 1999 to portsalmost certainly represent escapees from tendtowards orange or a fadedred (Goodwin September2001, and although some individ- captivity.A buntingwearing a brightlycol- 1950, Brush 1978). Batesand Busenbark ualswere undoubtedly counted on more than oredleg band was found at Laval,Quebec on (1963) commenton the importanceof in- onetrip, PaintedBunting was the mostnu- 24June1975 (N. David,pers. comm.; not in- cludinga "colorholding agent" in thediet of merousspecies recorded in suchcontexts cluded in Table 1), and an adult male with captivemales so that they retain their colors. (Hamilton 2001). Severalcaptive Pmnted dull yellow-orangeunderparts and a scaron The absenceof color on individual feathers, Buntingshave been observed at privateresi- the forecrown was collected at an elevation of however,does not imply a deficientdiet. Male dences in various northern Mexican towns, 1950m at the remoteSagehen Creek Field PaintedBuntings that adventitiouslylose a nearlyall of themadult males, often in de- Station,Nevada County, in northeasternCali- redor bluefeather will replaceit witha green plorablecondition (R. A. Hamilton,unpubl. fornia 17-18 April 1972 (Hawthorne1972, one(Pyfe 1997). Mlodinow reviewed 84 spec- data).This species isconfiscated with regular- Roberson1993; UCDWFB #252). Another imens of adult male Painted Buntingsat ity alongthe U.S.-Mexicanborder between malewith unusuallyfaded color at theTijua- ChicagogField Museum of NaturalHistory.

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