[5] The male painted bunting is often described as the most beautiful bird in North America and as such has been nicknamed nonpareil, or "without equal".

[6] Its colors, dark blue head, green back, red rump, and underparts, make it extremely easy to identify, but it can still be difficult to spot since it often skulks in foliage even when it is singing.

The plumage of female and juvenile painted buntings is green and yellow-green, serving as camouflage.

The wintering habitat is typically the shrubby edges along the border of tropical forests or densely vegetated savanna.

[16] Painted buntings are shy, secretive and often difficult to observe with the human eye, though can be fairly approachable where habituated to bird feeders.

They regularly eat insects and seeds of grasses,[17] such as Panicum, of sedges such as Carex, and forbs such as Amaranthus, Oxalis, and Euphorbia.

In winter painted bunting eat seeds almost exclusively, but while breeding, and in feeding their nestlings, they mainly seek out small invertebrates, including spiders, snails, and insects such as grasshoppers and caterpillars.

The breeding season begins in late April and lasts through to early August, with activity peaking mid-May through to mid-July.

[10] Each brood contains three or four gray-white eggs, often spotted with brown, which are incubated for around 10 days until the altricial young are hatched.

[10] The male painted bunting was once a very popular caged bird, but its capture and holding is currently illegal.