The Eastern
Bluebird, Sialia sialis, is a small thrush found in open woodlands,
farmlands and orchards, and most recently can be spotted in suburban areas. It
is the state bird of Missouri.
They are found east of the Rockies, southern Canada
to the Gulf States and southeastern Arizona to Nicaragua.
Description
The Eastern
Bluebird is a small thrush with a big, rounded head, large eye, plump body, and
alert posture. The wings are long, but the tail and legs are fairly short. The
bill is short and straight. Adult males are bright blue on top and have a
reddish brown throat and breast. Adult females have lighter blue wings and
tail, a brownish throat and breast and a grey crown and back.
Call
The call is
musical, typically 2-noted too-lee.
This call is also given in flight. The song
is a mellow series of warbled phrases and varied.
Food
The diet consists
mainly of insects and other invertebrates with a small amount of wild fruits.
Favored insect foods include grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, and beetles. Fruits
are especially important when insects are scarce in the winter months. Bluebirds
feed by perching on a high point,
such as a branch or fence post, and swooping down to catch insects on or near
the ground.
Breeding
Nests in open
woodland, second-growth habitats, and along the edges of fields and pastures,
placing nest in cavity. These birds commonly use nest boxes as well as old
woodpecker holes. The nest is made of grasses, plant stems, pine needles, and
lined with hair, feathers, and fine grasses. The female lays between 3 to 6
pale blue eggs which are incubated by the female for 13 to 16 days and the
young will leave the nest within 15 to 20 days. The male will often keep
feeding the fledglings while the female begins a second nest.
Conservation Status – Least Concern
Although doing
well now, Eastern Bluebird populations declined to a level raising extinction
fears by the 1960s, and in large part, the volunteer intervention of bluebird
lovers in Eastern North America brought the
species back. The most significant factor in the recent population recovery is
volunteerism - by young and old - people like you - doing their part by putting
up and monitoring nest boxes, spreading the word, and encouraging others to get
involved.
Bird watching
Most of the
country drives during an eastern North American summer will turn up a few
Eastern Bluebirds sitting on telephone wires or perched atop a nest box, then
abruptly dropping to the ground after an insect.
Missouri Hotspots
Swan Lake
Squaw Creek NWR
The Lake of the Ozarks
Trice-Dedman
Woods
Shelton L. Cook Meadow
Bennett Spring Savanna
Victoria Glade
Chilton Creek