The eastern bluebird is the state bird of New York and Missouri. It is a small bird with distinctive red, white, and blue colouration. They are omnivorous and prefer woodlands and orchards near open fields and water sources. The male selects or makes the hole for the nest, and the female builds it and lays four to six pale blue eggs. The population declined in the 1950s but has since increased.
The eastern bluebird, scientifically known as Sialia sialis, has been the state bird of New York since Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed legislation into law on May 18, 1970. It is also the state bird of Missouri. Lawful residents of a state can petition for the selection of state animals and other state symbols, and prior to the bluebird, the robin’s red breast had been the choice for New York’s state bird. The loudest champion for the bluebird was the president of the federal women’s clubs of New York, Mrs. Charles Cyrus Marshall.
The eastern bluebird is a small bird, about five and a half inches (13.97 cm) long, with a round head, plump body, short tail, and short beak. The male bird has distinctive red, white, and blue colouration, with a blue head, blue back, blue tail, orange-red breast and flanks, and white undertail and belly coverts. The female bluebird has a gray head and back, white eye-ring, red-brown throat, breast, and flanks, white belly and undertail coverts, and dull blue wings and tail. Young birds have a speckled underbelly and a white eye ring.
These birds are commonly seen throughout the United States. They are migratory birds and tend to fly to the southern states, especially Florida, in the winter. They typically migrate in November and return in March.
Eastern bluebirds are omnivorous creatures and will appease both insects and fruit. Birds mainly eat insects such as beetles, bugs, crickets and grasshoppers; invertebrates such as caterpillars, millipedes, earthworms, slugs and spiders; and bayberry, blackberry, dogwood, hackberry, hawthorn, honeysuckle, juniper, and pokeberry fruits. They like to collect insects from freshly plowed fields.
The New York state bird prefers woodlands and orchards that are located near open fields and meadows, and also near water sources such as streams, rivers, and ponds. Eastern bluebirds make their homes primarily in arboreal hollows, existing hollows or hollows dug by themselves. The male bird selects or makes the hole, filling it with grass, twigs, and other nesting materials, then preens around it to attract a female. The female then builds the nest and lays four to six pale blue eggs.
The parents will take turns incubating the eggs; for example, the male broods the first set and the female the second, while both parents will feed the chicks. The eastern bluebird’s population declined in the 1950s but has returned to an increase since its selection as New York’s state bird.
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