Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Bluebird
A pair in Michigan, USA
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Genus: Sialia
Species: S. sialis
Binomial name
Sialia sialis
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Approximate range in North America.
Yellow = summer only
Blue = wintering only
Green = all year

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[1] and New York.

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. Eastern Bluebirds are found east of the Rockies, southern Canada to the Gulf States and southeastern Arizona to Nicaragua.

The bright blue breeding plumage of the male, easily observed on a wire or open perch, fluttering down to the mowed grass to capture a grasshopper, cricket or beetle makes this species a favorite of birders. The male's call includes sometimes soft warbles of jeew or chir-wi or the melodious song chiti WEEW wewidoo (Sibley, 2000).

Contents

Food

Approximately two-thirds of the diet of an adult eastern bluebird consists of insects and other invertebrates. The remainder of the bird's diet is made up of wild fruits. Favored insect foods include grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, and beetles. Other food items include earthworms, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, sow bugs, and snails.

Male bluebird

Fruits are especially important when insects are scarce in the winter months. Some preferred winter food sources include dogwood, hawthorn, wild grape, and sumac and hackberry seeds. Supplemental fruits eaten include blackberries, bayberries, fruit of honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, Eastern Juniper, and pokeberries. 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. The availability of a winter food source will often determine whether or not a bird will migrate. If bluebirds do remain in a region for the winter, they will group and seek cover in heavy thickets, orchards, or other areas in which adequate food and cover resources are available. If you want to attract these species, put crunched-up peanuts in a feeder about four feet off the ground.

Habitat

Eastern bluebirds prefer to nest in woodlands where cavity holes excavated by a previous species will serve as their home. These woodlands must be near clearings or meadows because this is the preferred hunting ground of the species. River or creek access is an added benefit and preferred. Keep these things in mind when placing a nestbox in your backyard.

Similar species

References

  • BirdLife International (2004). Sialia sialis. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 6 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

Eastern Bluebird eggs

Data related to Sialia sialis at Wikispecies Media related to Sialia sialis at Wikimedia Commons


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Eastern bluebird — rytinė mėlynoji paukštė statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Sialia sialis angl. Eastern bluebird vok. Rotkehl Hüttensänger, m pranc. merlebleu de l Est, m ryšiai: platesnis terminas – mėlynosios paukštės …   Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

  • eastern bluebird — noun Usage: often capitalized E Date: 1937 a bluebird (Sialia sialis) chiefly of eastern North America that has a reddish brown throat and breast …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Bluebird — Taxobox name = Bluebirds image caption = Eastern Bluebird image width = 250px regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Aves ordo = Passeriformes familia = Turdidae genus = Sialia subdivision ranks = Species subdivision = * Sialia sialis *… …   Wikipedia

  • bluebird — /blooh berrd /, n. 1. any of several small North American songbirds of the genus Sialia, having predominantly blue plumage, as the eastern S. sialis, which has a blue back and a reddish brown breast. 2. See fairy bluebird. 3. (usually cap.) a… …   Universalium

  • bluebird — /ˈblubɜd/ (say bloohberd) noun 1. any bird of the genus Sialia, comprising small North American songbirds whose prevailing colour is blue, especially the commonly found eastern bluebird, S. sialis, which appears early in the spring. 2. any of… …  

  • Eastern Scottish — Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was a subsidiary of the Scottish Bus Group formed in June 1985 from the Scottish Motor Traction Co Ltd (SMT). It operated until 1999, when it became First Edinburgh.OperationFrom its head office in New Street,… …   Wikipedia

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  • western bluebird — noun : a bluebird (Sialia mexicana occidentalis) of western No. America that is typically more purplish than the eastern form and has a patch of chestnut on the back …   Useful english dictionary

  • Sialia sialis —   Azulejo gorjicanelo Macho …   Wikipedia Español

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