With only a couple weeks of summer to go and life gets busy again, what better time is there to renew an appreciation of our natural surroundings? Why not take a few minutes to look around at some backyard wildlife?

In doing so, if you happen to spot a bird with a striking cobalt blue back and rust-colored chest, it is likely the eastern bluebird.

These nifty little songbirds are not only fun to watch but their behavior is observed to reveal clues about changes in our climate. So why not get to know more about them?

What You Need To Know

  • The Sialia sialis, eastern bluebird is the official state bird of both New York and Missouri

  • Bluebirds are considered insectivorous or omnivorous eating mostly insects and berries

  • Similar to eastern bluebirds, there are western and mountain bluebird species

  • Tracking bluebird behavior helps scientists compile data to show how they respond to variations in climate

This cute little songbird bird is ours, really, being a native of the Americas. Whether they reside within a tree or a man-made nest box, bluebird lifestyle always includes the safety of cavity-nesting.

You really don't have to look far to spot bluebirds frolicking in these parts, but it hasn’t always been this way. In the 1960s, bluebirds were pushed out by invasive species, such as more aggressive birds like sparrows and starlings.

Hurdles like insecticides, clear-cutting of land along with urban sprawl continue to impact them to this day. No longer in a breeding decline, the bluebird population is thriving again thanks to bird conservationists and those at the New York State Bluebird Society.

Here’s how they did it: http://nysbs.org/about-us/

http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/

Here you’ll find a local open space that supports growing our bluebird habitat.

 

https://cliftonparkopenspaces.org/locations/garnsey/

 

We all know how extreme temperature and weather events affect us, but have you ever thought about the impact it has on bird populations?

The best temperature range for bird egg development is 96.8 degrees to 104.9 degrees. If egg temperatures fall within a lower range, embryonic development can be sluggish and a higher than range temperature for a prolonged time can have devastating effects.

Proper ventilation and shade on searing hot summer days can benefit young bird families. Bluebirds in our neighborhood first begin nesting in early spring and sometimes they produce more than one brood into the summer.

They typically use pine needles, straw, or grass for their cavity-nest building.

If you want to take a peek inside the nest, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a dedicated bluebird page including a great shot of nest eggs:

https://nestwatch.org/learn/focal-species/eastern-bluebird/

Other than being cute to look at, bluebirds provide another handy benefit as they are natural insect eaters that help to reduce garden pests. This is a huge benefit to backyard gardeners.

If you’d like to attract bluebirds to your yard, why not build your very own nest box? Here’s a tutorial on how it’s done, courtesy of the NYS DEC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtV25hebhlQ

Birds and Blooms Magazine also provides a great resource on nesting boxes: https://www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/attracting-birds/attract-bluebirds-with-nesting-boxes/

Bluebirds endure a vast range of weather conditions and it’s their response to these bioclimatic variables that draw interest from ornithologists and climatologists alike. Luckily, bluebirds are easy to follow and have more units of observation than other bird types.

Scientists gather and analyze ground-truth observations that are used to build models. The information from these models can be used to uncover changes in patterns of bird behavior.

Here is a chart of the process of bird modeling thanks to the USDA Forest Service:

 

Perhaps the goal is to show how animals respond to variations in seasonal weather events and climate. For example, bluebirds are found to shift their location to end up in a preferred area based on factors such as temperature, rainfall, and ultimately, food supply.

 

When animals seek suitable places to live that are farther from the norm, it marks a sign that something is not quite right. Some studies explain how bluebirds are adapting to climate change so far, and where they are while others species of birds are not.

With further research, scientists might be led to the divers that cause changes in climate and go on to apply those clues to what we may be facing in the future. So, why not observe our little blue songbirds every now and again, it just might clue us in to what is happening on a global scale.

 

So other than being a good test subject for scientific study, the bluebird, by nature, provides some immediate benefits to our natural landscape. So why not observe your yard and see if you can spot these important little birds?

 

Here are some other ways you can get involved in bird watching: https://gl.audubon.org/get-involved/community-science/climate-watch-watching-nuthatches-or-bluebirds

And, if you capture any bluebird photos, please feel free to share them with us.