A rare bird described as a "flying rainbow" that normally doesn't fly north of the Carolinas on the East Coast has turned up in a small town in Vermont, drawing hundreds of bird watchers to Pittsfield hoping to catch a glimpse of the painted bunting.
A conservation biologist with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies said it's the sixth time since 1993 a painted bunting has been recorded in Vermont.
Cold & lonely VT male Painted Bunting seeks saucy southern chick @ feeder for 2 Profile: https://t.co/VXBTZP4uUI pic.twitter.com/YtTcqIilH4
— Vermont State Parks (@VTStateParks) March 18, 2016
Saw the Painted Bunting in Pittsfield, VT today. pic.twitter.com/Pkecbb3siH
— Ron Payne 🦖+🕛=🐦 (@RonPayne72) March 20, 2016
Kent McFarland said the species is known for shooting northward at odd times, but said it's hard to say why. He photographed the rainbow-colored bird in a yard Friday, and said the bird really sticks out in Vermont's early spring brown landscape.
Painted buntings have turned up in New York and Maine in the last six months.
Learn how and why this #PaintedBunting got to #Brooklyn. https://t.co/HNRdSlBXgf pic.twitter.com/pdWlru9nPO
— Wild Birds Unlimited (@WBUEdwardsville) February 23, 2016