Our bird of the week this week is the amazing Eastern Bluebird.
It is found throughout North America, on the eastern side of southern Canada and all the way down the Gulf of Mexico. And they do migrate when it gets really cold from Canada and Northern New England. But in places like here in Southern Indiana, we get to keep them year-round.
Now they are voracious insect eaters, so in the spring and summer they're eating mealworms or flying bugs or whatever they can get. And then in the fall and the winter they switch over to berries. So, if you want to attract them to your feeders you want to have something like mealworms and berries so they will eat it.
They do mate for life but one thing that's interesting - they're kind of swingers. 30% of the eggs that hatch in their nest are going to be from a different father.
The male does attract the female by flying to the nest holding a piece of grass in its beak and then doing a little dance with its feathers - it's kind of cool to see. Then once the female decides that this nest is the one that she needs, it's important that we have the right nest for them. We need one-and-a-quarter inch opening, a predator guard, and no perch because they are not going to perch outside the house.
As a matter of fact, our male will perch on a bird feeder that we have across the way from where our bluebird house is located to keep watch. Anything that comes near his house, he's going to fly and dive-bomb and keep them away. Also, once the eggs have hatched, we've noticed he hangs out on top of the roof and protects the entrance to the house.
Predators are a big problem for bluebirds. You want to make sure that their house is mounted 4 to 6 feet off the ground and that it has a predator guard. Then, the house should be facing east or southeast or north - just not west because you want to keep the weather and the hot sun from beating in during the afternoon.
The female's going to hatch about 4 to 5 eggs at a time and she's going to do that 3 times in one season. It takes about 19 days for those babies to be able to fledge from the nest - and a really cool fact is that sometimes those older siblings from the previous nest will come back and help to raise the young from the next brood. I think that's neat.
Bluebirds live to be about 6 to 10 years, and they’ll stay in your yard year after year. If you're wanting to get bluebirds in your backyard and you need help, please reach out to us either by email or by calling. We're happy to help!
