Sialia currucoides
The Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) is a captivating emblem of the open Western landscapes, renowned for the male's breathtaking sky-blue plumage. Males are a brilliant, uniform azure blue across their entire body, often paling slightly on the belly, contrasting with the duller, yet still elegant, females. Females exhibit a gray-brown head and back, with a wash of blue on their wings, tail, and sometimes the rump, providing a subtle beauty. Juveniles are initially mottled gray-brown wi...
Found in open country, high-elevation grasslands, sagebrush steppes, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and clearings in montane forests, typically above 5,000 feet (1,500 m) elevation. It prefers areas with scattered trees for perching and natural cavities for nesting.
Primarily insectivorous during the summer months, consuming grasshoppers, beetles, flies, and caterpillars, often caught during their characteristic hovering flight. During winter, their diet shifts to include a significant proportion of berries and small fruits, such as those from junipers, suma...
Mountain Bluebirds are diurnal, often roosting communally in cavities or dense foliage during colder months. Their foraging strategy is distinctive; they frequently hover in place, scanning the ground below for insects, then dropping down to snatch prey, a behavior unique among North American blu...
The Mountain Bluebird's breeding range spans western North America, extending from eastern Alaska and western Canada (Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) south through the western United States. Key breeding areas include the Rocky Mountains, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, an...
Least Concern
- Mountain Bluebirds are the only North American bluebird species that regularly hovers in mid-air while foraging, sometimes for extended periods. - The male's brilliant blue color is structural, meaning it's caused by the scattering of light by microscopic feather structures, not by blue pigment...