Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird, adult male

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Eastern Bluebird, adult female

Eastern Bluebird juvenile

Eastern Bluebird nest

Eastern Bluebird eggs

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

The red, white, and blue Eastern Bluebird is a familiar and welcomed tenant of birdhouses in suburban yards, parks, and golf courses. The popularity of "bluebird trails" and the erection of nest boxes across the country have led to increased bluebird populations in many areas.

Description

• Medium-sized songbird; small thrush.
• Head large and round.
• Wings and tail blue.
• Chest reddish-orange.

• Size: 16-21 cm (6-8 in)
• Wingspan: 25-32 cm (10-13 in)
• Weight: 28-32 g (0.99-1.13 ounces)

Sex Differences

Male dark blue with bright reddish chest. Female drab gray-blue with duller reddish chest.

Sound

Song a rich warbling whistle broken into short phrases: "Tu-wheet-tudu." Also a dry chatter.

Conservation Status

Populations declined in 1960s and 1970s, but increased thereafter. Increased popularity of nest box campaigns probably responsible for increases. Vulnerable to competition from introduced nest-hole competitors, such as European Starlings and House Sparrows. Common and increasing in eastern North America.

Other Names

Merlebleu de l'Est (French)
Azulejo garganta canela (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• Life inside a bluebird nestbox is very active. Go here to take a look at what goes on, through the help of a Nest Box Cam provided by The Birdhouse Network at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 

• The male Eastern Bluebird does a "Nest Demonstration Display" at the nest cavity to attract the female. He brings nest material to the hole, goes in and out, and waves his wings while perched above it. That is pretty much his contribution to nest building; only the female Eastern Bluebird builds the nest and incubates the eggs.

• Eastern Bluebirds typically have more than one successful brood each year. See a Birdscope article for data from The Birdhouse Network that show this graphically. Young produced in early nests usually leave their parents in summer, but young from later nests frequently stay with their parents over the winter.

• Clutch size varies with latitude and longitude, with bluebirds farther north and farther west having larger clutches. For a discussion of this phenomenon based on data from The Birdhouse Network , click here or here.

Sources used to construct this page:

Gowaty, P. A., and J. H. Plissner. 1998. Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis). In The Birds of North America, No. 381 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.