By: Tyler Savage, Educator
February 28, 2023
The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) is a small, lively thrush with a rounded body, short beak and stumpy tail. But of course, the easiest way to identify a bluebird is, you guessed it, their blue feathers! The male bluebirds are a striking, vibrant blue with a rusty red chest, while the female bluebirds are a buffy brown with tinges of blue and the same rusty red chest. While hiking our trails this spring, you may notice them perched or fluttering around our open, grassy areas. That’s because a bluebird’s favorite springtime snack is small insects and invertebrates, such as beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, worms, snails, and more. But don’t bug out over our blue feathered friends’ diet just yet – these birds are a farmer’s (and gardener’s) best friend! They help manage annoying insect populations and eat pests that may damage our crops and gardens. In other words, we rely on Eastern Bluebirds to help protect a vital food source for us humans.
You may also notice Eastern Bluebirds are featured quite commonly in popular media. Perhaps you have heard the songs “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”, are familiar with poetry by Henry David Thoreau and Robert Frost, or have heard of the idiom “bluebird of happiness”. That is because symbolically, bluebirds represent happiness, love, and hope. This near-universal symbolism is historically evident across many cultures, including in Russian, Chinese, and Native American folklore. With their beautiful color and melodious songs, what’s not to love about Eastern Bluebirds?
Not to mention, Eastern Bluebirds show us what successful conservation looks like! In the early twentieth century, Eastern Bluebird populations in the U.S. plummeted due to habitat loss, increased pesticide use, snag removal, and most notably, the introduction of the invasive and incredibly competitive European Starling and House Sparrow, which are cavity nesters just like bluebirds. In the 1960s, campaigns organized by birders and citizen scientists were established to create bluebird trails lined with optimally designed bluebird boxes to alleviate nesting competition and allow for close population monitoring. Now, with a current-day breeding population of about 23 million, Eastern Bluebirds are doing much better! But conservation efforts today are still just as vital for the continued success of Eastern Bluebirds, which is why we have established, in affiliation with the Cornell Lab for Ornithology, our very own Eastern Bluebird NestWatch Program here at Cedar Run!
