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