Little Bird, Big Apple: NYC Goes Gaga for Stunning Prospect Park Painted Bunting
A spectacular — and very rare— male Painted Bunting who’s been haunting Brooklyn’s Prospect Park lately rocketed out of New York City’s birding subculture consciousness and into mainstream pop stardom with a triumphant New York Post headline on Tuesday, Dec. 2, taken from a quote by birder Doug Gochfeld: “People are losing their s — t over this bird”:
Soon, The New York Times declared the bird the “hottest thing in Brooklyn,” running some excellent quotes and scene-setting observations as the mania took hold:
Keir Randall found the bird last Sunday, Nov. 29, and it’s only the 10th of its kind every recorded in New York state. Painted Buntings — often described as one of the most colorful birds in North America — generally dwell far to our south:
Yet here one is, living beside the LeFrak Center skating rink in the southeast corner of Prospect Park near the Q train:
The pictures pouring in on social media are breathtaking:
There are loving video tributes set to music:
And there may also be a few #WorstBirdPic contenders:
Now as we know, off-beat natural beauty and post-LOL Internet hyperbole are a match made in some weird corner of heaven, and we New Yorkers responded to the bunting’s arrival with emoji, CAPS, and #hottakes:
Somebody made a de rigueur Twitter presence for the creature:
Mia Farrow and Twitter wiseguy pourmecoffee even got excited:
The Verge’s Loren Grush wrote a great first-person account about looking for the bird, and she noted the great diversity of the bunting-hunting crowd, writing, “There’s no average bird watcher, it seems,” which is one of the most refreshing sentences in a birding story this year, IMHO:
For some time-strapped New Yorkers wanting to see the bird but pulled in other directions, the struggle was so very real:
Other people started seeing Painted Buntings everywhere:
Part of the spectacle was the crowd, and we couldn’t stop photographing and commenting on our fellow birders:
One key point came through a few times, and that is the importance of native plant gardens and urban green space:
And here’s why that matters, if you’re curious:
Some people got introduced to a whole new world:
Thankfully, New York magazine wants to make sure people keep watching birds even after the bunting is gone:
It’s been quite a PR coup for the species, with Twitter mentions of “Painted Bunting” spiking from single digits to hundreds per day, according to Topsy:
Here’s a thing I wrote about Painted Buntings a year or so ago (it gets a little ranty, I’m afraid):
And if all this hasn’t yet slaked your thirst, plan another trip to Prospect Park, keep refreshing your “Painted Bunting” search on Twitter (I’m tweeting from @RealDJRinger), and wade through some of the other media coverage for our favorite coat-of-many-colors bird, long may he reign:
