Does a female Painted Bunting sing?

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Last week I spotted a pair of Painted Buntings close to home and have been enamored since!

One is in its glorious colors (which is the adult male) and the other less colorful, shiny green + yellow which I had presumed was the female.
After observing them over a few days, I noticed that they almost never perch together and seem to typically keep a distance of 20-30 feet.
Although they often enter each others territory and then chase each other for a while.
This behavior led me to believe that the less colorful one is perhaps a juvenile male.
Evening yesterday, I photographed him/her singing.

Does a female painted bunting sing? Or would this be a juvenile male?

Other questions:

How big is a PB's territory typically?

If the green one is a juvi male as I suspect, why am I not seeing a female with either of the males? Do they typically remain at the nest or do they arrive later or I just haven't looked hard enough?

[John Chardine]

Lots of technical questions Sidharth. I will do some research and in the meantime welcome any replies from folks who know much more about this beautiful species than I do.

[Paul Guris]

If its singing and defending territory, it's most likely a 1st year male. FYI, the term "juvenile" is generally used for birds of the year, before any spring molt so technically it would be incorrect for your bird.

[John Chardine]

OK Sidharth- To add to what Paul said:

from the Birds of North America account for the species (no. 398):

1. Females do not sing
2. Territory size depends on territory quality, the higher the quality, the smaller the territory needs to be. Measured range is about 3 acres/1+ hectares to 10 acres/4 ha.
3. Only the female incubates so maybe she was on her nest.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Thanks John for researching this info.
And thanks Paul for the confirmation and for correcting my mistake.
I spent a couple hours in the evening yesterday observing them again and it was a lot of fun watching their interaction.
I really appreciate your help - thanks so much once again.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Here's an image of the first year male in warm evening light in case any one else finds it useful for IDing.
This guy is a lot more active (and aggressive) as compared to the adult and I'm really enjoying observing him.
Thanks again for all your help.

[John Chardine]

Nice to see. Looks almost exactly like the image of a first-year male in Sibley's now classic Guide to Birds. Thanks for posting.

[Paul Guris]

This guy is a lot more active (and aggressive) as compared to the adult and I'm really enjoying observing him.

My guess is that he's probably an unmated male, which is the reason he's more active and aggressive. The full adult is probably paired and feeding young. The youngster is still holding out hope that he can get a date for the prom.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

I believe you are right, Paul.
I have on two occasions seen a female with the full adult but haven't seen one with this youngster.
Perhaps that's another reason the full adult is generally very quiet where as this guy is off from one tree top to the next singing his heart out.

[Jeff Parker]

I repeatedly saw a first year, green painted bunting singing this spring as well. I had assumed it was a male that didn't have his grownup clothes yet, this thread validates my assumption.