Buntings are vibrant songbirds known for their striking plumage. Understanding their diet helps appreciate them in nature and attract them to your garden.
Natural Foraging Habits
Buntings primarily consume a combination of seeds and insects in their natural habitats. Their diet typically includes seeds from various grasses, weeds, and small grains such as millet and sorghum. They also eat berries, with strawberries, elderberries, and blackberries being common choices.
These birds are adept foragers, often searching for food on the ground, where they glean fallen seeds and insects. They can also pick seeds directly from plant heads and catch insects from foliage. Larger insects like grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, spiders, and weevils are part of their insectivorous diet. Some bunting species, like the Lazuli Bunting, may even catch aerial prey or probe for insects in bark crevices.
Dietary Shifts Through the Seasons
A bunting’s diet changes significantly throughout the year, adapting to seasonal availability and the birds’ varying energy requirements. During spring and summer, the breeding season, buntings increase their consumption of protein-rich insects. This protein is important for nesting females, nestling growth, and molting. As fall and winter approach, and insect populations decline, buntings shift their diet to focus more on high-energy seeds and grains. This seasonal change helps them build fat reserves essential for migration and for surviving colder temperatures.
Providing Food in Your Garden
Attracting buntings to your garden involves offering preferred food sources and creating a welcoming environment. For bird feeders, white proso millet is a highly favored seed for many bunting species, including Painted and Indigo Buntings. Other suitable options include Nyjer seed, black oil sunflower seeds (preferably smaller varieties or chips), safflower seed, and cracked corn. Platform, hopper, or tube feeders designed for smaller birds work well, and caged feeders deter larger birds.
Planting native vegetation can provide natural food sources and attract insects. Consider native grasses such as switchgrass and panic grass, and wildflowers like purple coneflower and goldenrod, which produce seeds that buntings enjoy. Berry-producing plants like strawberries, mulberries, and elderberries also offer natural sustenance. A clean, shallow bird bath provides water for drinking and bathing.
When offering food, it is important to avoid certain items that can be harmful to birds. Do not provide bread, as it offers little nutritional value and can fill birds without providing necessary nutrients. Processed foods, spoiled or moldy seeds, and salty snacks are also unsuitable. Foods like avocado, chocolate, and fruit pits or seeds contain compounds that are toxic to birds and should never be offered.