Little Male Songbird Makes Colorful Splash at Brooklyn Park

Tomasz Kapala captured a stunning photo of a male painted bunting songbird in Prospect Park in Brooklyn on Dec. 2, 2015.

(Image credit: Tomasz Kapala)

A stunningly colorful little male songbird has drawn a big crowd to Brooklyn's Prospect Park this week.

The painted bunting (Passerina ciris), a member of the cardinal family, has never (in recent memory) been spotted in the treasured 526-acre (2.1 square kilometers) park.

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The male star of the park this week was likely en route to its winter home — the birds migrate to Florida or Central America in the winter, according to the Prospect Park Alliance. But that trek typically happens in September, so why this male was in New York in December has presented quite a puzzle for avian enthusiasts, according to a New York Times article. According to an author of bird books, Tom Stephenson, quoted in the Times article, the unseasonably warm November likely wasn't the culprit, though a wind blowing from the west may have nudged the bird there.

Jeanna Bryner is managing editor of Scientific American. Previously she was editor in chief of Live Science and, prior to that, an editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Bryner has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species, including the gorgeous Florida Scrub Jay. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She is a firm believer that science is for everyone and that just about everything can be viewed through the lens of science.