Goodbye, Painted Bunting: A Photo Retrospective

Brooklyn’s painted bunting. Photo courtesy of Tom Stephenson

PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN — As noted by Rachel Holiday Smith over at DNAinfo, it has now been exactly a month since Brooklyn’s miracle painted bunting, he who caused hundreds of otherwise apathetic New Yorkers to “lose their sh*t,” was spotted hanging around his usual digs. (The south slope of the green roof on the LeFrak Center in Prospect Park, duh.)

Although the bunting stuck around for New Year’s Day — “apparently unfazed by last night’s fireworks [and] munching seeds by the skating rink,” according to the Brooklyn Bird Club’s Rob Jett — he disappeared just a few days later, and hasn’t been seen since.

A sad moment for Brooklyn’s birdwatchers, seasoned and amateur alike. But if our departed bunting were here now, we believe he’d want to be celebrated, not mourned.

So below, in tribute, a photo retrospective: Just a Few of the Many Splendid Faces of Brooklyn’s Painted Bunting.

Sultry Side-Eye

The Diva

“Seriously? I’m Trying to Eat”

GTFO of here, Cat.