Identification

• Mountain bluebird
  
  The eastern bluebird is 6 to 8 inches long with a wingspan of 10 to 13 inches. It weighs a little more than an ounce and has a short, chunky body. It has a large head for its size, and the wings and tail are blue. The chest is reddish-orange with white; the female eastern bluebird has duller colors than the male. The mountain bluebird is all blue in the male of the species with the female grayish with blue wings and tail. The western bluebird is bluish on the wings and tail with a rusty chest; the girls are a gray-blue with a less vibrant chest coloring.
  
  

Time Frame

• In their northern ranges, the bluebird will head to the southern states and portions of Mexico to escape the cold weather. They will return as early as February and by March have worked on making a nest. By April and May, the first brood of bluebirds will hatch and as the spring progresses bluebirds will have another brood which will hatch as summer begins. Sometimes they will have a third brood, but as the weather begins to get colder in September and October, they will head south where they will join large flocks that wander about in search of food. Where it is warmer, the bluebird will remain all year long.
  
  

Geography

• The best habitats for bluebirds will have open areas where they can see insects on the ground, along with trees which they can sit in and watch for food to go by. This makes places like cemeteries, old orchards, pastures, golf courses, meadows, and open fields bordered by woods the best spots for them to live. The loss of their favorite nesting spots, old trees with hollowed-out openings from woodpeckers, has been caused by the thinning of forests. Nest boxes have proved to be just the thing that bluebirds needed, with many varieties providing them with a place to raise their families each year.
  
  

Considerations

• The diet of the bluebird consists of insects and berries, and they are excellent at keeping down the insect population where they reside. They will sit on a perch and spy a grasshopper or cricket and swoop down and trap them against the ground with their beaks. They will dine on beetles, caterpillars, spiders, and flying bugs while in flight. Bluebirds are partial to berries in the winter and are also capable of locating dormant insects for a meal.
  
  

Expert Insight

• Snakes, cats, and even raccoons will kill and eat young bluebirds. The starling and house sparrow have been known to kill the chicks and in some cases the adults to take over a nesting site. They will peck them on the head repeatedly to accomplish this task. Bluebirds can be attracted to bird feeders by raisins soaked in water and by people who purchase beetle grubs and place them on a flat platform type of feeder.