Bird of the Month: Eastern Bluebird

There are three species of bluebird in North America, the Western Bluebird, Mountain Bluebird, and Eastern Bluebird. Only one of the three species are typically found in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Eastern Bluebird, which we will focus on as our Bird of the Month!

Most, but not all, of our bluebirds migrate to southern states for the winter in search of more plentiful food sources and return north for nesting season. Many of our Minnesota bluebirds winter in Missouri, Kansas, and Texas. Breeding adults tend to come back to the same territory each year, but only a small number (3-5%) of bluebirds return to the area where they hatched.

All bluebirds are secondary cavity nesters, meaning they historically nest in abandoned woodpecker holes or natural tree cavities, but in modern times they most often use human-made nesting boxes.

Bluebird populations plummeted by nearly 90% in the early part of the twentieth century, partly due to the introduction of the more aggressive House Sparrow and EuropeanStarling who would out compete bluebirds for natural nesting locations. In large part due to human intervention with the widespread use of bluebird trails and nest boxes, bluebird populations have greatly increased since the 1970s and are still on the rise.

A nesting pair of bluebirds can have two or sometimes three broods (sets of young) per summer. The eggs are incubated for about two weeks, and both parents will help feed the nestlings for roughly two more weeks before they leave (fledge) the nest.

Once the young birds fledge dad will take over most of the feeding duties and show them where and how to find food while mom starts on the next nest. Sometimes a new nest location will be chosen, some nests or nest sites will be refurbished and reused.

Occasionally young birds from the first brood will stick around and help mom and dad care for the following brood before moving out on their own. Young from the earlier nests will usually leave their parents by the end of summer, but young from final nest will often stay with their parents over winter.

    

Most birds are their specific color due to the pigment in their feathers. Crows are black because of black pigment in their feathers; Northern Cardinals are red from red pigment. Bluebirds have no blue pigment in their feathers, meaning they are not actually blue. Their feathers have a thin layer of cells that absorb all wavelengths of color except blue, causing the blue wavelengths to reflect resulting in their blue appearance. This is also true for other “blue” birds such as Indigo Buntings and Blue Jays.
 

The best way to attract bluebirds to your yard is by providing them with the proper habitat. They prefer to set up their territory in open country, meadows, and fields, but could still be enticed to your yard with mealworms (they really prefer live mealworms vs. dried, understandably!). Bluebirds are members of the thrush family (as are American Robins) which are known to be fond of water for bathing. Having a fresh, clean water source, such as a birdbath, may help entice them into your yard or property

Share your photos of Eastern Bluebirds in nature with us in-store or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!