A team of researchers from the University of North Texas at Denton has been monitoring Painted Buntings at LLELA since 2017, collecting data such as population density, territory sizes, genetic samples, and observing territorial and nesting behavior. Researchers on this project include Dr. Jim Bednarz, graduate student Christine Gurley (expected grad. 2020), and new graduate Katie Ceynar. The summer team typically also includes several undergraduate student researchers and citizen scientist volunteers. The team’s research questions include how birds of different ages and sexes are treated in territorial disputes, how often individual birds return to the same breeding territories, how female birds decide where to place their nests, and how the birds at LLELA change their behavior in response to ongoing prairie habitat restoration. Understanding the breeding behavior of this species, including the “green males,” is both interesting to the bird research community and informative for designing effective conservation measures for Painted Buntings and their habitat.