Family outing

  

For several weeks now, a family of Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) has visited our yard at the end of the day.  They perch on the gutter and fly down to catch insects among the short vegetation.

It used to be just the adults, but now they're accompanied by juveniles — see the two speckled birds on the left, above.  I'm wondering if the light is just right at that time for picking out insects in the rays of light of the setting sun?  Or maybe we're just the last stop on their route through the neighborhood?  

Either way, I love hearing their soft call notes from inside the house, and I'm glad our yard provides some early evening snacks for them!

Bluest of blue

 

 

On 30 November 2020, Ron reported that he had found a small group of Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) at Tolay Lake Regional Park, so I left work a bit early today (3 December 2020) and headed over to see if they were still around.

 

Luckily, they were!  I haven't seen Mountain Bluebirds in a long time, and I had forgotten just how blue they are!  The adult males (above) are especially striking.  The females (below) are more subtle, but you can still see that bright cerulean (or cobalt) blue on the wings, rump, and tail:

 

 

 

 

Note that Mountain Bluebirds lack the rufous or chestnut tones of Western Bluebirds.

 

Mountain Bluebirds are rare in Sonoma County.  They nest at high elevations in western North America.  It looks like there are ~12 records for this species in Sonoma County.

 

Many thanks to Ron for getting the word out about these beautiful birds!

Blue on blue

  

 Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana), Bodega Head, 2 December 2020

Flashes of blue

 

It was breezy in Cotati this afternoon.  When we went for a walk around the neighborhood, we came across a small group of Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) hovering in place while facing into the wind over a field.  They would drop down to the grass after insects, but then rise to hover again, making it fun to watch those flashes of blue across the landscape.

Bluer than blue

 

Another thing I'm grateful for?  Visits by neighborhood birds, like this Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) photographed in Cotati on 16 March 2020.

Simultaneously

 

Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) among grasses and lichen-covered rocks.  Somehow the bluebird seemed to both blend in and stand out.

Kind of blue

 

A Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) to start your week.  (Photographed on 6 December 2018.)

 

Shades of blue

 

Female Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana), 19 December 2017

All in the family

Eric called to say that he was seeing some young birds outside of his office.  Luckily, they were still in view by the time I got there.  Here's my first photo:

 

And then I captured two in one view:

 

This was my first close look at juvenile Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana).

Eric had noticed that these juveniles were being fed.  So I kept watching, and sure enough we saw the juveniles begging.  Here is one example:

 

And then another example (below).  This time the bird on the right is bringing food (just barely visible in its bill).

 

I was a little confused when we were watching this behavior.  The juveniles were begging and receiving food from birds that didn't look like adults.

I kept watching, and then saw this bird (on the left) come in to feed one of the juveniles:

 

The birds were moving quickly, but the blue on the neck and rusty color on the breast looked more like an adult...but then again, not quite right.  When I downloaded the photos I could see yellow at the gape (the base of the bill).  The bird on the left was not an adult — it was also a juvenile, although an older individual.  The younger juveniles were being fed by older juveniles!

So then I had to look up information about cooperative breeding in bluebirds.  In turns out that it's very rare in Eastern Bluebirds, but a bit more common in Western Bluebirds.  [For example, in one study, 7.4% of Western Bluebird pairs at the Hastings Reservation (in Carmel, California) had helpers.]

The "helpers" can be either adults or juveniles.  In this case, they were juveniles.  When this happens, the older juveniles are most often helping their parents feed a later brood.  (Western Bluebirds can have up to three broods in one season.)

P.S.  To see pictures of adult Western Bluebirds, see the post from 12 December 2013.

P.P.S.  If you'd like to learn more about cooperative breeding in Western Bluebirds, check out this paper:

Dickinson, J.L., W.D. Koenig, and F.A. Pitelka.  1996.  Fitness consequences of helping behavior in the western bluebird.  Behavioral Ecology 7: 168-177.

Shopping for fruit

Sometimes I like grocery shopping, but other times it can feel a bit like a chore, something I have to do rather than want to do.  But it helps when there are interesting things to look at outside of the stores.  At this time of year, many of the trees in the parking lots have fruits that attract birds.

Recently, the trees near the Fiesta Market in Sebastopol have been very active.  It's been fun to look up and see these species in between errands:

 

Female Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana).  Do you think she's perched in a crabapple?  

There were male bluebirds nearby, too (see next image).

 

Then I followed a very high-pitched call and found these birds sitting high in a bare-branched tree:

 

Here's a closer view of a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum):

 

And one from behind that highlights the lemon yellow tail band and the crimson red tips on the wing feathers for which the species is named.

 

Although I had to dodge some cars in the parking lot to get these bird pictures, it was nice to have a little natural history mixed into my chores last weekend.  And in this case, we were all "shopping" for fruit!

Blue!

 

Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)

photographed in the Bodega Dunes, 5 February 2013

Although I didn't get a picture of it, one of the fun things about seeing Western Bluebirds at this time of year is that they often occur in flocks with Yellow-rumped Warblers — just like Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) do on the East Coast!