Sialia sialis

The Bluebird carries the sky on his back. – Henry David Thoreau

Eastern Bluebird

This wonderful bird is seen all over Peachtree Park.  Walk through the neighborhood any afternoon in the spring and summer months and you will see them in yards and sitting on wires talking to each other and hunting.

“Male Eastern Bluebirds are vivid, deep blue above and rusty or brick-red on the throat and breast. Blue in birds always depends on the light, and males often look plain gray-brown from a distance. Females are grayish above with bluish wings and tail, and a subdued orange-brown breast.” [1]

Eastern Bluebird pair feeding chicks – Darlington Triangle

Bluebirds love to take advantage of man-made houses, such as the ones on the Nature Trail, the Darlington Road triangle, and in many neighbor’s yards.  You can see them nesting from early April through June.  Mating occurs in the spring and summer.  A mature female typically raises two broods each season.  They will also nest in abandoned woodpecker cavities.

Construction of the nest is done primarily by the female and takes around 10 days to complete. These nests are small, cup-like structures lined with grass, feathers, stems, and hairs. Each female lays three to seven light-blue or, rarely, white eggs. The female incubates the eggs, which hatch after 13 to 16 days. The young cannot care for themselves upon hatching. The female broods the chicks for up to seven days after hatching. Fledglings then leave the nest 15 to 20 days after hatching.

Eastern Bluebird posing on a garden trellis

Both parents cooperate in raising the young, which they feed a diet consisting almost entirely of insects. Some young stay around the nest to help raise another brood. Fledglings are grayish in color, with speckled breasts. The blue color becomes much more prominent and the speckles on their breasts disappear as they mature. Bluebirds may begin breeding the summer after they are hatched.

References and Additional Information

[1]  Cornell – All About Birds: Eastern Bluebird
[2]  Wikipedia: Eastern Bluebird
[3]  Bird House Dimensions