A few weeks ago some Ocean Point residents looked out their window and noticed an odd emerald green gem against the snowy white ground. That glowing jewel turned out to be a bird, one that they had never seen. 

It certainly wasn’t one of the regular feeder visitors that we in Maine are accustomed to seeing. Calls were made and soon it was confirmed – a female-plumaged painted bunting! 

As the name suggests, the male painted bunting is a famously amazing patchwork of bright colors: a blue head, red breast and rump; and an emerald green back. 

Although in comparison the females and immatures might seem almost plain when looking at their pictures in a field guide, nothing could be farther from reality, especially when seeing the vibrant, lime green bird against a Maine winter backdrop.

You may notice that we described the Ocean Point painted bunting as being in “female-plumage” rather than saying the bird is a female. That’s because young males in their first winter look essentially identical to the female. 

So far, it’s been unclear whether this bird is a female or a first-winter male that has not yet molted into his gaudy adult male plumage.

In winter, a painted bunting normally should not be any closer to us than southern Florida or Mexico. Even their breeding range gets them only as close as North Carolina. But painted buntings are occasionally out-of-range, out-of-season surprise visitors. 

There are a scattering of records over the years of the species across the eastern U.S. and even a few in southern Canada. In fact, there are a number of previous records from Maine, including another winter record within the last year or two in the Rockland area. 

Jeff’s grandmother, Audrey Giles-Chase of Edgecomb, used to tell the story of a male painted bunting once appearing briefly at her feeder decades ago. 

Until the appearance of this bird at Ocean Point, our own views of painted buntings had been limited to places like Florida and Texas.

Painted buntings are actually a species of conservation concern in much of their range. The bird has two widely separated populations. One breeds in a narrow coastal belt from Florida to North Carolina while the larger and more widespread western population breeds from Nebraska and Missouri south to Mexico. 

The U.S. population (both populations combined) was estimated to have declined by approximately 50 percent between 1966 and 2005. Habitat loss is likely one of the most important factors in the decline of painted buntings, especially perhaps for the eastern population, which favors the same coastal regions beloved by us humans. 

But the showy plumage, especially of the males, has made painted buntings a highly popular species for those who traffic in the capture and sale of wild birds for pets. 

In Mexico, an estimated 100,000 male painted buntings were captured and sold between 1984 and 2000. More than 6,000 painted buntings per year were shipped to Europe from Mexico in 2000 and 2001. 

The species is also commonly captured and sold in Cuba (where they winter), although there are few figures to understand how many may be taken. 

Even in southern Florida, people have been caught illegally trapping and selling painted buntings, sometimes at those famous huge Florida flea markets.

The biggest question most people ask about a sighting like this is, “Why would this bird be here, especially in winter?” 

In many, if not most migratory bird species, there are always some individuals that end up in odd, far-away places. 

These are the birds that birders are always on the lookout for because it’s exciting to see something that not only rarely is seen in your area but also has such allure, especially since it comes from what may be for many of us a rather exotic or special part of the world. 

These vagrant birds sometimes may just be birds caught up in storms or weather events, causing them to overshoot their intended destination while migrating. Or they could be individuals that have some problem that has scrambled their orientation abilities. 

In some cases, they could be individuals that are pushing the limits of their range as they prospect for better places free of competitors. 

Oftentimes these out-of-range birds turn out to be young birds. Certainly in those cases, we suspect that inexperience is likely to have had something to do with why it has appeared so far from home.

We will never know why this beautiful green jewel showed up to grace an Ocean Point yard, but we appreciate its presence and hope its future can be as bright as an emerald in the snow.

Dr. Jeff Wells is the senior scientist for the Boreal Songbird Initiative. During his time at the famed Cornell Lab of Ornithology and as the Audubon Society's national bird conservation director, Dr. Wells earned a reputation as one of the nation's leading bird experts and conservation biologists. Jeff's grandfather, the late John Chase, was a columnist for the Boothbay Register for many years. Allison Childs Wells, also formerly of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is a widely published natural history writer and a senior director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Together, they have been writing and teaching people about birds for decades. The Maine natives are authors of the highly acclaimed book, “Maine's Favorite Birds.”