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.