Eastern Bluebird Calls
You may know the sweet little bluebird from many popular songs, books, and movies, such as “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz. Learn more about this good friend to gardeners and listen to the sounds of the eastern bluebird.
Have you spotted a bluebird? Like the robins, bluebirds are harbingers of spring—and many bluebirds (about a third) even stick around for winter.
Poets like James Russell Lowell recognized the bluebirds’ beauty, especially needed in troubled times, with these memorable lines he wrote in “Under the Willows”:
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“The Bluebird, shifting his light load of song, from post to post along the cheerless fence, a Spring habit which has delighted many”
About Bluebirds
The gentle Eastern Bluebird has often been regarded as our most beautiful thrush. There are two western cousins that compete with it for the beautiful azure blue color. The Western and Mountain Bluebird split from the Eastern Bluebird 2 million years ago—evolution is never in a hurry!
Eastern Bluebirds are small thrushes—about 6 to 8 inches long with a wingspan of 9 to 12 inches long, weighing around 1 ounce. They have round heads and often plump bellies for their size.
The male has a brilliant royal blue head and back and a warm reddish-orange throat and breast. The females are grayish with a subtler orange on the belly and elegant blue tinges on their wings. With their beautiful colors, bluebirds are a treat to sight out your window or through a telescope.
Bluebird Habitat
Bluebirds prefer open country, especially areas with abandoned apple orchards. Old apple trees have many holes and openings for flight and nesting.
In the 19th century, House Sparrows migrated from Europe and displaced bluebirds by occupying nest holes, and then the European Starling appeared, too—an even larger and more aggressive bird that competed for the same territory.
Today, the bluebird often makes its home in man-made nest boxes!
Insect Eaters
You’ll often see bluebirds in open country, meadows, fields, and golf courses (especially if there’s a bird box). They’ll also perch in the open along fences or power lines, scanning the ground for prey. They feed by dropping to the ground onto insects (70% of their diet) or, in fall and winter, by perching on fruiting trees to gulp down berries (the remaining 30%).
Gardeners love bluebirds because help out in the garden! They are voracious insect eaters, and can quickly rid a garden of pests. In summers, they are also a delightful vision among the flowers with their blue and red plumage—a fairy tale come alive!
Eastern Bluebirds do not normally visit feeders because they eat insects (unless you can stock feeders with mealworms). They also enjoy the fruits of shrubs such as winterberries, Virginia creeper, sumac, hackberry, and hawthorn. Their beaks are not designed to open most birdseed mixtures.
Bluebird Nesting
Eastern Bluebirds do not normally make their own nests; these small birds are not strong enough. So, they look for nooks and crannies in trees to protect their young.
But natural cavities in trees have become less available due to loss in habitat, so bluebirds often rely on “bird boxes” with small holes for entry and exist. (They don’t use perches so just a simple untreated wood box will do; pine wood is a good choice.)
It’s the male who identifies a nest cavity, bringing nesting material to the hole, and flapping his wings near the cavity to get attention. Once he attracts a female, she finishes building the nest and incubates them. Bluebirds generally have one or two broods a year, laying 3 to 8 pale blue eggs. The eggs hatch after 2 weeks, and the nestlings will open their eyes within 4 to 6 days. The first brood will usually leave the mother by summer’s end, but if the brood is born later in the season, they’ll hang out with their mother through the winter.
Next Boxes
Eastern Bluebirds are a great prospect for nest boxes if you have a more open yard space. Consider putting up a nest box to attract a breeding pair. Make sure you put it up well before breeding season. Attach a guard to keep predators from raiding eggs and young.
In a study of more than 3,000 bluebirds by Cornell University, it was discovered that a nest box should ideally face east or southeast away from prevailing winds.
Read More About Birds
Love bluebirds? Visit our naturalist’s post, “House-hunting With the Bluebird.”
Click here to listen to the sounds of other birds! Compliments of The Macaulay Library at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Be sure to let us know where you live or where you’ve heard the sound of bluebirds before!
Heidi Stonehill
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We had a tornado come through our yard last May and took out all the trees and some homes. I had a bird box up that somehow managed to survive that used to always house a wren family. This year a pair of bluebirds moved in and have been a joy to watch. My garden is close by so I am out back much of the day and at first they would leave but now they don't pay much attention to me. This is the first pair I have seen since living here for 44 years.
Hi there!
What an amazing article to read! Besides bluebirds, the only other species of bird I know, whose plumage is primarily blue is the blue-jay and their identical cousins. And unfortunately, not many folks take a liking to them. But now, since I know how to identify bluebirds by sight and sound, I can search for them within my area.
Does anyone here know if they are native to any parts of Florida? All I need now is a reliable pair of binoculars to go with my phone for birding footage! Also, how or where can I ask a Question of the Day on this website? I've been using it for a couple of years now, but I still have no idea how to ask a featured question.
My first time having a pair of beautiful blue birds in my nesting box!!!! In Sellers, South Carolina!!! I’m so excited!!!!
So thrilled to see two bluebirds in Freedom, NH yesterday!
I live in southern New Jersey and saw several bluebirds on New Year's Day visiting my feeders for the first time. They have returned several times since then. A beautiful sight to behold!
We put up a bluebird house several years ago in anticipation of coaxing them into our yard. The squirrels chewed on the opening and took over the house, making it useless to any bluebirds. The only blue birds we have ever seen are, of course, the blue jays and indigo buntings. (western NY)
You can get metal plates that are exactly the right size for a bluebird entry hole. You add them to the outside of the box over the hole. No squirrel can chew through that. It can take years for bluebirds to catch on to a new house. Sometimes they find one they like and get evicted by a mob of tree swallows. But if you have enough houses, eventually the tree swallows will allow one bluebird family to nest in their least favorite house. Bluebirds like short grass (grass that is mowed) rather than tall grass (like in a hayfield). And they like to hunt from fences. I finally have one house (out of nine) that gets bluebirds every year. It's a joy to see that flash of blue.
We bought 44 acres approximately 7 1/2 years ago. My husband is a wood worker and we have a 2 and 1/2 acre garden fenced-in and we have bird houses on every Pole. Right near our house is the first box and for the last 3 years we've had bluebirds nesting. We watch diligently 4 the most dangerous to the bluebird the English sparrow. We will literally sit outside with our BB guns or pellet guns and shoot the English sparrows. We have two drst traps located in our garden to catch these birds. They killed a brood of babies and in the far-off box killed the mother and the babies when I discovered this I learned a lot more and now I have bluebirds nesting all over my property I love them and I feed them everyday year round and they have been here through the winter. I have a vast variety of birds that stop here on their migration or they stay here. I've had everything from pheasant turkeys ducks gear sugar gliders and the list goes on. I love sitting by my French doors watching The birds. The funny thing is if my feeder is empty in the morning and they know I'm awake they are very voicetress. They have common mixed seed, black oil sunflower, suet and niger seed and occasional other things like Millet. I love making my own suet to. You can add raisins peanuts berries anyting and they love it.
I’m visiting my daughter in Atlanta Ga .
Her backyard looks out over a dense wooded area with a stream . We’ve put a bird feeder on her balcony and have an extraordinary variety of birds visiting , including Blue Birds . I’m so delighted , as I’m from NJ and although we have them there it is not common to see them .
I have bluebirds enjoying a bath all winter long in my yard. On sunny days I leave my storm door open and there they are splashing around in the bird bath. What a delight to see all the bright blue feathers.I live in the northwest foothills of North Carolina.
