Bluebird of Happiness

Among the regular harbingers of spring is the return of the Redwing Blackbird, the American robin and the eastern bluebird.  One of our favorites is the bluebird and they've been seemingly scarcer the past couple of years. 

The notion of the bluebird of happiness has its roots in French folklore and comes from the delightful feeling associated with the sighting of one of these birds with the faded rusty breast, white belly and blue back and tail. They're a flash of color in an otherwise brown and dreary springtime world. They’re fond of perching on the top of a post, tree or garden rake leaning on the fence and surveying their domain.  

WI.DNR.Gov

 

Meet Sialia sialis - the Eastern bluebird.  These are cavity-nesting birds and only a couple of human generations ago their numbers were in serious decline in this country as a consequence of limited nesting habitat.  They’re more common nowadays because us people have mobilized in the face of that decline and assembled and installed nest boxes for them. Multiply that by hundreds of thousands of similarly-minded bird enthusiasts and you get the drift.  More cavities – more birds.  

Most of the time house wrens and tree sparrows nest in our boxes which is just fine.  They make for good tenants.  Only a few days ago I spotted a flash of blue and upon checking the box discovered this.  They’re nesting in a box just at the edge of the back yard making bird watching from our new three season room easy.

A fun factoid about the eastern bluebird is that the young of the first brood assist in raising the young of the second brood.   

Good parenting the bluebird has.