The Ultimate Guide to Bluebirds
They say, "without birds, the world would not be as beautiful as it is today." Undoubtedly, birds are the most beautiful creation of God. But did you know that the Bluebird is one of the most enchanting birds of all?
Their small body is covered with blue, white, and rust-colored plumage, and you can hear their melodious voices in the forest openings, pastures, and fields. You can also find them in the backyards of golf courses. However, these birds are rare, and you will only see them in northern America.
You can build small Blue bird houses in your backyards if you want them to visit you at any time of the year. They will sing you a melodious song, feed in your place, and you will have a chance to see the Bluebird eggs in the birdhouse you built for them.
If you want to know more about these cute little charming birds, please stay tuned and read to the end, as this article will highlight all the things you need to know about Bluebirds.
Here are some interesting facts about Bluebirds:
1. Bluebirds live in cavity nest
These birds love to build their nest in a cavity. Usually, they build their nest in natural tree cavities. You can also make them a small, snug house with a 4-inch base with a 1 ¾-inch diameter entrance hole.
These bluebirds have not been found in their natural habitat for many years. Still, in recent years they have made an amazing comeback with the installation of bluebird houses across the country in North America.
Now they can be seen singing in open fields as well as in parks. The best part is that they are not afraid of humans and fly freely over their nest boxes.
2. Eating habits of Bluebirds at different times of the year.
Typically, Bluebirds are omnivores, meaning they eat both meat and plants. However, live worms, caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, and insects are their favorite food during the summer. They can easily spot their beloved food on the tall grasses even at a distance of 50 yards but really love the convenience of eating at a bird feeder.
In the fall season and winter, they change their feeding habits. They start feeding on wild grapes, berries, and honeysuckle.
You can offer them sunflower seeds, bird seeds, and millet, but they are usually not interested in these types of ordinary food.
3. Male bluebirds attracts female via display and singing
Usually, male birds do not participate in nest building, but when it comes to attracting females, the male birds spring into action. They bring the nesting material, wave their wings, walk in and out, and sing melodious songs to attract females.
They are basically giving signs that they are ready to mate. Likewise, humans, bluebirds also do several things to inspire females. They help them build the nest by bringing twigs, weeds, and dry grass to incubate their eggs in the nest. It takes 7-10 days to make the nest.
4. Bluebirds love to be social
These birds do not like to live alone, preferring to live and travel in a flock of 100. They especially love to spend time in bird baths. One flock will protect an entire territory during the breeding season, while another flock will protect the territory during the feeding season.
Bluebirds are seasonal and do not stay in the same place year-round. Bluebirds are very intelligent; while living in a flock, they communicate through songs and body language.
5. Eggs of bluebirds
Female Bluebirds are capable of laying tawo clutches of eggs per season. Each clutch may contain 2 to 8 eggs, and you can distinguish their eggs as light blue and whitish in color. These eggs hatch after 12-16 days of incubation.
Each female lays the same color of eggs. Nevertheless, if you find differently colored bluebirds eggs, the mother of these eggs is not the same and therefore belongs to different female bluebirds.
After the eggs hatch, both parents are responsible for feeding their babies. They provide their newborn babies mainly with insects and mealworms. These babies stay in the nest for about 15 to 20 days.
Bluebirds love cleanliness, so they take care to remove fecal sacs from the nest when feeding their babies.
6. Migration of bluebirds
Most people think that bluebirds do not migrate, but in fact, northern populations begin to migrate south when they face food shortages in winter. They do not live in confined spaces, but their preferred habitat is open and wide-open spaces where they can live in a flock and sing melodious songs.
7. Where do they sleep?
They do build nests in tree cavities, yet they do not sleep in the nests, preferring to sleep in open areas. The nests are built for the young to lay their eggs and protect them until they are adults.
8. Species and subspecies of bluebirds
Bluebirds are divided into three main species. These species include Eastern Bluebird Sialia Sialis, the Mountain Bluebird (Sialia Currucoides), and the Western Bluebird (Siala Mexicana).
However, they are further divided into 8 sub-species. the eastern bluebird Sialia Sialis, Bermudensis, Caribaea, Episcopus (Tamaulipas Bluebird), Fulva (Azure Bluebird), Grata (Florida Bluebird), Guatamalae (Southern Mexico), Meridionalis (El Salvador, central and western Honduras, and north-central Nicaragua), and Nidificans (Veracruz, Mexico).
These bluebirds usually don’t cross-breed with the other species, but in rare cases, eastern bluebirds have been seen to do breeding with the mountain bluebirds.
9. Bluebirds are usually monogamous
According to a study on Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis) in Georgia and South Carolina, nesting involves one male and one female. The couple stays together for the whole breeding season, or if they are comfortable, there are chances that they reunite to breed for other seasons.
However, some bluebirds are likely to switch their partners during the season of breeding to raise a second generation.
Another study has proved that 70-85% of successful pairs nested again with the same partner for the same season.
All in all, bluebirds are some of the most beautiful and attractive birds of all. So, are you ready to welcome these tiny guests this season?