How to Attract BlueBirds? A Complete Guide

BlueBirds in the garden
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Every one of us enjoys watching birds. If you love birds, there is a high chance that you know about bluebirds. These birds are commonly found in North America and Central America. Furthermore, bluebirds mainly prefer to live in an open areas.

Bluebirds belong to the genus of Sialia of the thrush family and Turdidae family. It consists of a small group of songbirds. Three different types of bluebird species are found in different places in America. 

Bluebirds genus
Bluebirds belong to the genus of Sialia
Image Source: ( Source: Skyler Ewing: Pexels.com)

The subspecies of Bluebirds are Eastern Bluebirds, Western Bluebirds, and Mountain Bluebirds. They are one of the few genera in the Americas. 

  • Mountain bluebird: Sialia currucoides
  • Western Bluebird – Sialia mexicana
  • Eastern Bluebird – Sialia sialis

Bluebirds are charming, colorful birds that are a delight to watch and listen to. If you want to attract them to your yard and garden, there are a few simple things that you can do to make your yard, or garden more inviting for bluebirds.

In this blog post, we will inform you about how to attract bluebirds to your yards, gardens, and farms. Let us start our blog by understanding the bluebirds.

Understanding Bluebirds

Before you can attract bluebirds to your yard, it’s essential to understand a bit about these birds.

Bluebirds are omnivorous that are commonly found in North America. They are known for their vibrant blue, rose beige coloration and cheerful songs.

Three types of bluebirds are found in North America: the Eastern Bluebird, the Western Bluebird, and the Mountain Bluebird.

Eastern Bluebird, the Western Bluebird, and the Mountain Bluebird.
Eastern Bluebird (left), Western Bluebird (mid), and the Mountain Bluebird(right)

Different species of bluebirds have different distributions. Eastern bluebirds are from east-central southern Canada to US Golf states, Arizona to Nicaragua.

Mountain bluebirds are from Western North America, whereas Western bluebirds are from California and New Mexico in the US.

All three types are cavity nesters, which means they require a hole or cavity to nest in.

Mating

The process of nest-building in bluebirds involves male birds identifying potential nesting locations. After that, bluebirds attract females by singing and wing flapping at these locations.

Once a suitable location is chosen, the male deposits nesting materials in a nesting box or cavity. If the female accepts the male and the nesting location, she is responsible for constructing the nest and incubating the eggs.

During breeding, the female bird will lay a clutch of approximately four to five light blue eggs, with an incubation period of thirteen to fifteen days until they hatch.

Once the young hatch, the male bird plays an important role in feeding, bringing food to both the female and the offspring during the critical early stages of development.

Bluebirds typically inhabit open areas such as fields, meadows, and parks. They are attracted to areas with short grass, where they can easily spot insects to eat. They also need a water source nearby, such as a stream or pond.

How to Attract Bluebirds?

Creating the Bluebird’s Habitat

One of the most important things you can do to attract bluebirds to your yard is to create a suitable habitat. Bluebirds require a specific habitat to thrive, so you’ll need to ensure your yard meets their needs.

These birds prefer different types of environments, such as meadows, open grasslands surrounded by trees, forest edges, gardens, farms, backyards, etc.

To make a house for bluebirds, you must choose the right spot. Bluebirds like open areas with short grass. Therefore, you must pick a place not too close to trees or tall things.

You also need to make sure the house is facing a good direction. Bluebirds like houses facing east or southeast, so they don’t get too cold, and they get more sun.

How to Attract Bluebirds
Bluebirds can be attracted to yeard by reating the Bluebird’s Habitat
Image Source: ( Source: Skyler Ewing: Pexels.com)

When you make a house for bluebirds, you must ensure it’s the right size and shape. The house should be made of a special kind of wood that hasn’t been treated with chemicals.

Furthermore, you must give the bluebirds some soft things to make their nest with, like pieces of grass, wood shavings, or pine needles.

The nesting boxes shall be kept in the gardens, which attract them to build their own nests. It should be kept over a height of about 5 feet from the ground.

Providing Food To Bluebirds

Bluebirds feed the foods by dropping them into the ground. These beautiful birds eat berries, nuts, mealworms, raspberries, insects, sunflower hearts, suet, cornmeal muffins, etc.

They also eat soaked raisins. But their best food is mealworms (i.e., dried or live mealworms).

Bluebirds primarily eat insects, so providing the right food source is important if you want to attract them to your yard.

bluebirds feeding beeries
Bluebirds are Omnivorous, they feed on fruits and insects
(Image Source : Photo by Hal Moran: Pexels.com)

Some wonder if dried worms are just as good as live worms for birds. We suggest others give live worms as they are healthier.

Just like how we want to eat fresh food, birds want to eat fresh worms. Second, it is a good source of water and minerals for baby bluebirds as they stay in their nest and can’t go get water by themselves. If we give the birds dried worms, they won’t have enough water to drink and stay healthy.

Bluebirds also eat fruit, particularly in the winter when insects are scarce. You can provide chopped apples or berries on a platform feeder or spike feeder to attract bluebirds to your yard.

  | You May Also Like : What Flowers Attract Blue Jays?

If you want to give food to bluebirds, you can create a unique bird feeder for them. Bluebirds like feeders that are low to the ground because they usually eat food on the ground.

You can use a unique feeder with a big tray or flat surface for the bluebirds to stand on while they eat.

Providing Water

Water is essential for bluebirds, particularly during the hot summer months. They need a clean source of water to drink and bathe in. You can put some water sources in your gardens, such as fountains and small ponds, where they can take birdbath.

You can also set up a dripper or a fountain to provide a continuous source of moving water, which is particularly attractive to bluebirds.

Manage Predators Of Bluebirds

One of the things you can do to attract bluebirds to your yard is to build a house for them. But you need to be careful because animals like cats, snakes, raccoons, and squirrels like to eat bluebirds.

To keep the bluebirds safe, you can choose an open area for the house with short grass where predators are easy to see. You can also keep your yard clean and secure. Make Sure to scare these predators.

Tips How To Attract Bluebirds To Your Yards? ( TL;DR)

Here are some of the tips that can be useful to attract beautiful bluebirds.

  • Firstly, they like to live in an open area.
  • Bluebirds like to eat berries, seeds, dried mealworms, live mealworms, and many more.
  • Nesting boxes shall be kept in little heights in your gardens.
  • Dried trees should be kept, which help them build nests and roosting sites.
  • You can also plant some trees and shrubs in your yards, one of the most important ways to attract.
  • It should also include small ponds or fountains where the birds can take bird baths.
  • Bluebirds should be aware of cats. You need to be careful of cats that might want to hurt them.

Conclusion

Having bluebirds in your yard is fun, but you need to work a little to make it happen. You can make the yard a good place for bluebirds to live by giving them an excellent place to build a nest, providing them with food and water, and ensuring they’re safe from animals that might want to hurt them.

To help bluebirds build a home, you can put up a special birdhouse in a good spot and give them soft things to use for their nest.

| Read More About : What Do Blue Jays Eat? A Complete Guide To Feed Blue Jays

Bluebirds should be aware of cats. We all know that millions of songbirds are dying each year. So, the cats should be kept indoors.

North American Bluebird Society was established by Dr. Lawrence Zeleny in 1978. This organization is brought to promote the species of bluebirds. It is a non-profit organization to preserve declining bluebirds.

FAQ About BlueBirds

What is unique about BlueBirds?

Bluebirds can fly at a speed of up to 45 miles per hour.

In which place are bluebirds found mainly?

Bluebirds are mainly found in North America. There are three species of bluebirds. Namely Eastern Bluebirds, Western Bluebirds, and Mountain Bluebirds.

Which foods do Bluebirds like to eat?

Bluebirds love to eat American elderberry, highbush blueberry, red raspberry, berries, dried mealworms, live mealworms, northern bayberry, etc.

What type of birds are Bluebirds?

Bluebirds are mainly categorized as insectivorous or omnivorous birds.

Which plants attract Bluebirds?

Some of the plants that attract bluebirds are Holly, Coneflower, Sunflower, Elderberry, Dogwood, Marigold, etc.

How many times do Bluebirds breed?

They usually breed from the Mid February to Late July.

Which genus do Bluebirds belong to?

The beautiful songbirds belong to the Sialia genus family. The genus consists of three species.

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