Mountain Bluebird

Sialia currucoides

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family TURDIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A common sight in ranchland and other open areas of the American West, the male Mountain Bluebird is a breathtaking brilliant sky blue. It prefers more open habitats than the other bluebirds and can be found in colder habitats in winter.

Cool Facts

• Most studies of the Mountain Bluebird involve birds in nest boxes. Little is known about natural nest site requirements.

• Only the female builds the nest. The male sometimes acts as if he is helping, but he either brings no nest material or he drops it on the way.

• Mountain and Western bluebirds compete for nest boxes, and may exclude each other from their territories. In the small area where they overlap, the Mountain Bluebird dominates the Eastern Bluebird. This relationship may limit the westward expansion of the Eastern Bluebird.

• The Mountain Bluebird often occurs outside its normal range in winter. Individuals are casually recorded in western and northern Alaska, and in the midwestern and eastern states.

Description

• Size: 16-20 cm (6-8 in)
• Weight: 30 g (1.06 ounces)

• Medium-sized songbird; small thrush.
• Head large and round.
• Body chunky.
• Tail medium length.
• Blue in wings and tail.
• Male sky blue overall.

• Bill small and black.
• Legs black.

Sex Differences

Male entirely sky blue, female gray with blue in wings and tail.

Male

Body, head, wings, and tail sky blue; brighter above, paler below. Belly white. Duller brownish blue in winter.

Female

Brown-blue overall. Brighter pale sky blue on rump, wings, and tail. Head and back bluish gray. White eyering. Sometimes a faint malar streak. Chest may have some reddish. Some females are more brownish than others.

Immature

Juvenile with spotted chest and unspotted back, blue in wings and tail. Immature similar to adult but duller.

Similar Species

• Western and Eastern bluebirds are deeper blue with reddish chests.
• Townsend's Solitare similar to dull female, but has longer tail, has buffy in wings, and lacks any blue in plumage.

Sound

Song a short series of burry whistles. Call a nasal, nonmusical "tew."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from central Alaska eastward to Manitoba and southward to California and Texas.

Winter Range

Winters from Oregon and Colorado southward to central Mexico.

Habitat

Found in agricultural areas and prairie-forest edge with groves of trees, short grass, and few shrubs.

Food

Insects, small fruits.

Behavior

Foraging

Hunts from perches and drops onto ground to catch prey. Frequently hovers and drops down on prey on ground. Some flycatching and gleaning.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest in cavities in trees and snags, and frequently in nest boxes. Nest woven of grasses, lined with fine grass, soft bark, hair, or feathers.

Egg Description

Pale blue and unmarked, sometimes white

Clutch Size

Usually 5-6 eggs. Range: 4-8.

Condition at Hatching

Naked and helpless with some patches of down.

Conservation Status

Benefits from many human activities; populations stable or increasing.

Other Names

Merlebleu azuré (French)
Azulejo pálido (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Power, H. W., and M. P. Lombardo. 1996. Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides). In The Birds of North America, No. 222 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.