Eastern Bluebird: Brilliant Blues of New World Songbird Sialia sialis

Summary: Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) is a New World bird in the thrush family (Turdidae) native to North and Central America with distinctive blue coloring.

Bluebird pair; Tuesday, March 29, 2011, 11:35; photo by John Gresham: Virginia State Parks staff, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Sialia sialis is a New World native passerine (Latin: passerinus, "of sparrows"), or perching, bird with a large range encompassing North and Central America.

In Canada, Sialia sialis claims breeding season homelands in six provinces, from southeastern Saskatchewan eastward through southern Manitoba, primarily eastern Ontario, southern Quebec, eastern Prince Edward Island, and northern Nova Scotia.

In the United States, the blue-plumaged percher claims breeding, nonbreeding and year-round homelands from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and as a disjunct, or separate, year-round population in southeastern Arizona and southwestern most New Mexico.

In Mexico, Sialia sialis maintains nonbreeding season populations primarily in three northeastern states (Coahuila, Nuevo Léon, Tamaulipas) and year-round populations from northwestern border states of Coahuila and Sonora southward to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, with a disjunct population in the southeastern state of Chiapas.

In Central America, Sialia sialis lives year-round from southern Guatemala, across most of Honduras, and into northern Nicaragua.

Breeding Season, Nonbreeding Season and Year-Round Distribution of Eastern Bluebird; blue = native (nonbreeding seasons only); green = native (year round); yellow = native (breeding seasons only): rbrausse, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Sialia sialis is known commonly in English as Eastern Bluebird.

Eastern Bluebird is recognized as the state bird of two U.S. states: Missouri and New York.

As one of three New World bluebirds in the thrush family (Turdidae), Eastern bluebirds present a plump silhouette with rounded head; short, straight bill; long wings; short tail; short legs.

Males display warm red brown breast and throat, white belly and royal blue brilliance on their head and back.

Females display subdued elegance with grey brown heads, orange brown breast, white belly and blue-tinged tail and wings.

Eastern Bluebirds traditionally prefer forest openings and open meadow landscapes near large trees with scant ground cover and sparse underbrush.

Eastern White Pines (Pinus strobus), with their generous branches, minimalist forest floor, velvety needles and soaring sturdiness, are attractive arboreal sites for Eastern Bluebirds.

baby Eastern Bluebirds in May, Sky Meadows State Park, northwestern Fauquier County, Northern Virginia; Thursday, May 16, 2013, 11:24: Virginia State Parks staff, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Eastern Bluebird eggs, laid in clutches of two to seven, usually have pale blue or green shells. White shells are a rarity.

Parents raise one to three broods annually. Hatchlings born later in the year tend to overwinter with their parents.

Eastern Bluebirds especially favor the three Eastern White Pine trees in my yard. The tallest pine stands as gracious sentinel on the southeastern border, near the intersection of the gravel driveway with one of the county’s main roads and in proximity to hay fields and sunny meadows. The other two pines cluster close together at the northern end of the north retaining wall that demarcates the upper north terrace’s shade garden.

Several resident Eastern Bluebirds flash their distinctive blueness against late spring's cloud-patched blue skies as they comfortably fly on food or nesting missions from hidden homes high in the Eastern White Pines.

The colorful flashes remind me to appreciate the eastern bluebird’s tough resilience in claiming -- unlike now-extinct passenger pigeons -- new preferred arboreal haunts after being chased out of their all-time favorites, blight- and root rot-stricken American Chestnuts (Castanea dentata).

Eastern Bluebird female with young'un; parenthood in Alpharetta, northern Fulton County, northwestern Georgia; Thursday, May 10, 2007: lecates, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Bluebird pair; Tuesday, March 29, 2011, 11:35; photo by John Gresham: Virginia State Parks staff, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bluebird_Pair_(5571915138).jpg;
Virginia State Parks (vastateparksstaf), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/vastateparksstaff/5571915138/

Breeding Season, Nonbreeding Season and Year-Round Distribution of Eastern Bluebird; blue = native (nonbreeding seasons only); green = native (year round); yellow = native (breeding seasons only): rbrausse, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sialia_sialis_distribution.png

baby Eastern Bluebirds in May, Sky Meadows State Park, northwestern Fauquier County, Northern Virginia; Thursday, May 16, 2013, 11:24: Virginia State Parks staff, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baby_Easter_Bluebirds_(8744819426).jpg;
Virginia State Parks (vastateparksstaf), CC BY 2.0 Generica, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/vastateparksstaff/8744819426/

Eastern Bluebird female with young'un; parenthood in Alpharetta, northern Fulton County, northwestern Georgia; Thursday, May 10, 2007: lecates, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/lecates/492591980/

For further information:

"Eastern Bluebird: Life History." The Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds > Guide.
Available @ http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Bluebird/lifehistory