I’ve had some questions about the little cage shown in my Painted Bunting pictures. It’s a wire cage from Wild Birds Unlimited (on loan from my mom, thanks again!) The buntings are so small that they fly right through it. Bigger birds can’t go through it, so they leave the buntings alone (mostly). In my case, the feeder is also in the middle of my yard, so I have a plastic tray at the bottom of it to catch the seed thrown down. That way I don’t get as many weeds.

Here’s a little video of a green (female or juvenile) Painted Bunting chowing down on breakfast, then flitting away through the cage bars. These birds are so fast when they leave, they almost remind me of hummingbirds.