Banner Photo by Ann Kramer

Featured Bird

MEET THE MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD (Sialia currucoides) – by Jeff Sinker

Mountain Bluebirds can often be found perched on fenceposts along rural roads where pastures, prairies, tundra or sagebrush flats are intermixed with trees and shrubs that provide cavities for nesting and lots of insects and small fruits for eating. During breeding season, they live at elevations as high as 12,500 feet above sea level and winter and considerably lower elevations.

Much of what has been learned about the nesting habits of these birds has come from studying the birds at nest boxes provided by people. The male scouts for the best site and after the female makes her choice, she builds the nest using a wide variety of plant materials. She lays 4-8 eggs and a successful pair will raise 1-2 broods per year.

Insects and spiders form the basis of their diet and they also eat seeds and small fruits like elderberries and currants. Agricultural and forest management practices that reduce the availability of nest cavities or suitable food sources, such as spraying of pesticides to kill insects or herbicides to kill fruiting shrubs or trees, can have an effect on local populations.

Learn more: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird

Range map: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird

Light pink: breeding; dark pink: breeding (scarce); Dark blue: winter; Light blue: winter (scarce); Purple: year-round

Photo credit: Mountain Bluebird by Ian Routley/Macaulay Library