This week marks the unofficial beginning of spring migration season in southern Wisconsin. Well okay, migration season has been going on for many weeks already, but my favorite birds generally drop in during the first two weeks of May.
Last year the pandemic put a damper on birdwatching at a lot of my favorite haunts, so the number of species I tallied was down by about 50. I hope to come roaring back this year. Over the weekend I saw my first pelicans (flying over the city no less!) and I heard my first warbler (a Yellow-rumped). I’m off to a good start!
One of the birds I missed seeing last year was an Eastern Bluebird. I didn’t want that to happen again, so a few days ago I headed to the local arboretum and quickly found a pair already using a nesting box. I could even hear the baby birds peeping.
Bluebirds are easy to spot because they like to hang out in open areas, and they can easily be spotted when they fly to the ground to catch insects.
When I observed this pair, dad was doing most of the work catching insects. Eastern Bluebirds also eat fruit.
Unlike some other beloved songbird species, the Eastern Bluebird population is doing well. From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
“Eastern Bluebird populations fell in the early twentieth century as aggressive introduced species such as European Starlings and House Sparrows made available nest holes increasingly difficult for bluebirds to hold on to. In the 1960s and 1970s establishment of bluebird trails and other nest box campaigns alleviated much of this competition, especially after people began using nest boxes designed to keep out the larger European Starling. Eastern Bluebird numbers have been recovering since.”
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Of course the royal blue color on the bird’s back is the most exciting feature, but this bird wanted to keep his eye on me the whole time (even though I was far enough away that I needed to use a zoom lens). I only caught a few glimpses of that bright blue, but I know where to find him if I want more!