Stats

Lifespan: 6-10 yrs
Size: Small
Diet: Insectivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Flock
Biome: Temperate woodland
Range: North America
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Flight
Status: Common

About

The Western Bluebird is a small thrush of open woodlands and farmlands across western North America, where males sport a vivid cobalt-blue head, wings, and tail contrasted by a rich rusty-orange breast. Unlike its eastern cousin, the male often shows a chestnut wash across the upper back — a subtle two-toned look that birders use to tell the two species apart.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
2.
hatchling
A pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
3.
juvenile
A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
4.
adult
Fully grown with adult plumage and song.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Genus: Sialia
Species: Sialia mexicana