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Exotic Painted Bunting Bird May Stay in Brooklyn for Winter

By Rebecca Ngu | December 4, 2015 3:39pm | Updated on December 7, 2015 8:30am
 The painted bunting is known for its spectrum of bold colors, from blue to green to red.
The painted bunting is known for its spectrum of bold colors, from blue to green to red.
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Flickr/guava1950

A rare, technicolor bird sighted in Brooklyn's Prospect Park that has been making headlines all over New York may be here to stay for the season.

In a strange twist of events, a painted bunting, a type of cardinal that normally breeds in the southeastern United States, arrived in Prospect Park last weekend.

It probably got thrown off its migration course due to a "series of weather systems with strong south-southwest wind patterns," Geoff Lebaron, the Christmas Bird Count Director of the National Audubon Society, told Fast Company

While bird-watchers have been rushing to the park to catch glimpse of the beautiful specimen, they may have more time than initially believed. Since the bird has stayed here for a couple of days, it may be settling in New York for the winter, Lebaron said. If the bird wanted to migrate south, it likely would have already left.