Conservation and Management

Trapping

Males are easily trapped from their territory by use of live or mounted bunting as decoy (Audubon 1841 Audubon, J. J. (1841). The Birds of America. Volume 3. J. J. Audubon, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Close , Wayne 1910 Wayne, A. T. (1910). Birds of South Carolina. Contributions from the Charleston Museum 1, Charleston, SC, USA. Close , Greene 1946 Greene, E. R. (1946). Birds of the lower Florida Keys. Q. J. Fla. Acad. Sci. 8:199-265. Close ) and have been popular cage birds (Audubon 1841 Audubon, J. J. (1841). The Birds of America. Volume 3. J. J. Audubon, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Close , Wilson and Bonaparte 1831 Wilson, A. and C. L. Bonaparte. (1831). American ornithology; or, the natural history of the birds of the United States. Philadelphia, PA: Porter and Coates. Close ). Audubon (Audubon 1841 Audubon, J. J. (1841). The Birds of America. Volume 3. J. J. Audubon, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Close ) reported “thousands” caught each spring and that most ships leaving New Orleans transported Painted Buntings to Europe for 126-fold increase in value.

Painted Buntings are still trapped and sold in large numbers in Central America, especially in Mexico (Partners in Flight Watch List; CWT), although data on take are limited. Impact on populations is increased because breeding adults are targeted. Johnson et al. (2012) estimated maximum allowable take to ensure population stability for the closely related Lazuli Bunting; similar estimates are needed for Painted Bunting.

Degradation Of Habitat

Owing to their fairly limited distribution along the Atlantic coast, eastern populations more susceptible than western populations to loss and degradation of breeding habitat. Apparent decline in abundance during 1930s in Georgia is attributed to highway maintenance activities that cleared roadsides of shrubby vegetation favored for nesting (Murphey 1937 Murphey, E. E. (1937). Observations on the bird life of the middle Savannah valley, 1890-1937. Charleston, SC: The Charleston Mus. Close ); since then, highway maintenance practices maintain even more sterile habitats. In the Painted Bunting's stronghold along the coast and on coastal islands, development of swamp thickets and woodland edges have reduced prime habitat; projected sea-level rise would also reduce these habitats (Brittain and Craft 2012). Loss of riparian areas in sw. U.S. and nw. Mexico used during molt-migration of western populations could have a disproportionate effect on population numbers.

Painted Buntings can adapt to yards and gardens, however, if these are landscaped to maintain important features of natural habitats.

Collision Mortality

Few deaths reported at communication towers and tall buildings during migration. In Florida, at 1 site in Leon Co. with no breeding population to the north, only 1 casualty during 15 yr of monitoring; at another site in Orange Co., 4 casualties during 3 yr of monitoring; at a Brevard Co. site, 31 casualties in spring and 1 in fall during 11 yr of monitoring (Stevenson and Anderson 1994b Stevenson, H. M., and B. H. Anderson (1994). The Birdlife of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. Close ).

Conservation Status

Specific reasons for population decline unknown, but presumably loss of shrubland habitat is the primary cause. Painted Bunting is regarded as a "species of concern" in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Migratory Bird Program Strategic Plan 2004-2014; as a Watch List Species by Partners in Flight (Rich et al. 2004); and as Near-Threatened by BirdLife International. The Painted Bunting also is listed as a Species of Concern in the newly proposed Norma Oficial Mexicana 059 para las Especies Amenazadas y en Peligro.

Monitoring numbers and studies of populations is warranted. Citizen science feeder watch programs have been successful in monitoring populations (Rotenberg et al. 2012).

Habitat Loss

The eastern population remains of great concern because of its geographically restricted breeding area, which is, at most, only 4% of the size of the breeding area occupied by the western population (Sykes and Holzman 2005). Furthermore, eastern Painted Buntings often are most abundant in areas close to the coast, where natural habitats often are lost to development as human population increases in the region. An encouraging note is that approximately 13.5% of the total breeding range of the eastern Painted Bunting is made up of public lands. These public lands could provide a critically important refuge for buntings (Sykes and Holzman 2005).

Trapping

Trade of trapped birds has been banned in the United States since the early 20th century, but continues to be legal in other countries. Preliminary estimates are that at least 100,000 Painted Buntings were trapped in Mexico between 1984 and 2000 (a mean annual capture rate of 5880 buntings/year). International trade in wild-caught cage birds was banned in Mexico from 1982 to 1999, but the international trade in Painted Buntings resumed quickly after this ban was lifted; for example, about 6000 birds per year were exported from Mexico to Europe in 2000 and 2001 (Iñigo-Elias et al. 2002). Similarly, there is commercial trade in Painted Buntings in Cuba, where caged birds are sold on domestic markets (Sykes et al. 2007).