Is there a Blue Bird of happiness in your life? There may be, whether or not you know it. Before we continue, a precise definition of the blue-hued avian discussed here is in order, as there are several species of what appear to be blue-feathered birds (we’ll discuss that factoid later), flitting about the planet, including jays, buntings, and grosbeaks. Let’s focus on the Eastern Blue Bird, Sialia sialis, a small (6-8 inches long), North American migratory member of the thrush family, frequenting open farm fields and orchards, wooded areas, and suburban transitional landscapes (um, can you say. . . golf course?). These blue-bodied birds with soft orange breast feathers, sweet song, bustling nesting activities, and airborne commutes through our yards and farms, remind us that spring is here—or on its way. The male of the species has more brilliant coloring, both sexes display the same color pattern.
Blue Bird Feathers are Not Blue!
I hate to break it to you, but blue-feathered bird wings comprise air and protein pockets aka keratin. The tiny keratin pockets are called nanostructures, varying in size from microscopic to molecular, but tinier than light wavelengths. Don’t believe me? To learn more, check this out:
https://www.acsh.org/news/2016/06/30/blue-birds-arent-blue-this-is-how-they-fool-you
From Ancient to Modern Life, Bluebirds Have Your Cheerfulness Quotient Covered
For thousands of years, blue-feathered songbirds have symbolized hope and comfort around the globe. From poems to songs to artwork, their influence spans and spawns centuries of human interaction and inspiration from China’s Shang Dynasty (1600 B.C.), to Native American mythology, to 20th century stage plays and music. Consider Maurice Maeterlinck’s play The Blue Bird, or the song Bluebird of Happiness, composed in 1934 by Sandor Harmati, Edward Heyman and Harry Parr-Davies. These small birds wield a sizable influence on world culture. Not quite sure what a Bluebird sounds like? Click and find out:
https://youtu.be/Gyg432CPme4
Insects are What’s for Breakfast, and Lunch, and Dinner, And . . .
If you’ve got bluebirds in your corner of the world, that means you’ve also got bugs. It’s okay, because arthropods of many species, caught on the ground, are a bluebird’s primary food source for much of the year. Major prey includes caterpillars, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, and spiders. In fall and winter, when live prey is less plentiful, bluebirds consume dogwood berries, pokeweed, honeysuckle, mistletoe, sumac, black cherry, blueberries, tupelo, currants, wild holly, hackberries, and more. Occasionally, Eastern Bluebirds gobble down salamanders, small rodents, frogs, snakes, and lizards. The Good, the Bad, and the Challenging Eastern Bluebirds are avian creatures of habit. They nest in familiar places, often returning to familiar tree cavities and next boxes several times in the same mating season, which can create a challenge in raising their nest of fledglings. Accumulated bedding matter in small, confined spaces creates a risk for nestlings. Suffocation of baby birds is not uncommon in bluebird boxes and houses with large quantities of layered nest material, so it’s best to clean yours out after each brood and at the end of the brooding season.
To Shelter and Feed or Not to Shelter and Feed
Think carefully about attracting Bluebirds to your yard or property during spring and summer breeding season. If you provide a nesting box, place it high enough off the ground and not in a place easily accessible to predators such as snakes, cats, bears, or House Sparrows. If you provide food and water through bird baths and feeders, remember that once you start the mealworm and suet buffet, Bluebirds will come to depend on your food and water sources. If you don’t plan to sustain your Bluebird brood’s nutritional needs until they fledge, it is best not to invite them into your yard.
What Could Make these Blues Go Away?
While humans have loved the bluebird for millennia, it is possible that our behavior and practices over the last couple of hundred years could spell doom for these cerulean bug-loving tweeters. Major impacts on bluebird populations include burgeoning, uncontrolled house cat populations, climate change that affects the availability of their favored six-legged prey, clear cutting and culling of dead tree matter which also removes parasitic food sources for these birds. Toxic pesticides and other factors affect this bird’s population numbers. According to Birds and Blooms, an effective way to help keep bluebird populations safe, and to enjoy their presence, is to provide some sustainable food sources. Planting juniper, blueberry, holly, and other perennials mentioned here in your landscape along with a dependable and accessible water source is a sustainable way to support local Bluebird populations. Want more ideas on getting the blues to hang around? Visit:
https://www.virginiabluebirds.org/
Photos, Top to bottom: Female Eastern Bluebird (l) with two males (r) Adult male Eastern Bluebird eating berries Adult male Eastern Bluebird (c) flanked by two juveniles.
