Eastern Bluebird - BirdForum Opus

Photo by GaryT
Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, May 2006

Sialia sialis

Identification

Length 18cm (7 in), Wingspan 33cm (13 in)
Male: Blue back, orange thoat, sides of neck, and chest, white belly. Black eyes and legs
Female: Similar, but drabber, with rusty color in place of orange, and gray on the nape
Juvenile: has speckled breast.

Similar Species

Similar to Western Bluebird but throat rusty, not blue. Belly and undertail whiter, not as gray.

Distribution

Female
Photo by bobsofpa
Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, Pennsylvania, USA, July 2009

Eastern Bluebirds are found east of the Rockies, southern Canada to the Gulf States and south-eastern Arizona and winters south to Nicaragua.

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

This is a polytypic species, consisting of six subspecies in two groups:
Eastern Group

• S. s. sialis:

• South-central and eastern Canada to south-eastern US; winters to northern Mexico and Cuba

• S. s. grata:

• Southern peninsula Florida

• S. s. episcopus:

• Southern coastal Texas (Rockport) to eastern Mexico (southern Tamaulipas)
  

Juvenile
Photo by Josef
Rapid City, South Dakota, August 2009

Mexican Group

• S. s. fulva:

• Mountains of south-central Arizona to southern Mexico (Guerrero); winters to Guatemala

• S. s. guatemalae:

• Mountains of south-eastern Mexico (southern Tamaulipas to Chiapas) and Guatemala

• S. s. meridionalis:

• Mountains of El Salvador to north-eastern Nicaragua

Habitat

Found in open woodlands, farmlands and orchards.

Behaviour

The bright blue breeding plumage of the male, makes it easy to see when perched on a wire or open perch, prior to fluttering down to the ground to feed.

Diet

The diet includes insects such as grasshoppers, crickets or beetles.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Eastern Bluebird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Eastern_Bluebird

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