Mountain Bluebird
Sialia currucoides
There’s kinda blue, blueish, pretty darned blue, and then there is the Mountain Bluebird, the bluest of all. These birds range from Mexico in the winter to as far north as Alaska, and throughout the western U.S. and Canada.
Like their cousins, the Eastern and Western Bluebirds, these birds depend on cavities to raise their offspring. Competition for natural cavities has always been fierce among species such as wrens, woodpeckers, titmice, chickadees, and other birds. With the introduction of Starlings and House Sparrows in the late 1800s, it tipped the scales adversely for all native cavity nesting species. Fortunately, the use of man-made nest boxes has brought back some balance, and benefitted birds such as these Bluebirds.
Despite their common name, the Mountain Bluebird’s favored habitat is not always in the mountains. More important is the availability of open grasslands for foraging. During the breeding season, their diet is primarily insects. But in winter they will forage on berries, but if they can find them, they happily take bugs in that season too.
The first Mountain Bluebirds I met were overwintering birds in the grasslands near Ramona (California), a few miles inland and up-slope from my Poway home. My memories of those first birds, and the brilliance of those brightly colored males, still bring on a smile when I recall them.
Science regards these birds as monotypic (no subspecies recognised).
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Female at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 11:00 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: D3X_0146-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Visiting for the winter at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 10:57 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: D3X_0123-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Visiting for the winter at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 10:44 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: D3X_0097-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 10:43 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: D3X_0084-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Visiting for the winter at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 10:42 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: D3X_0074-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 10:42 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: D3X_0073-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 10:27 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: D3X_0061-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Viewed while traversing the Siskiyou Mountains from the Applegate Valley to Mount Ashland Oregon. |
Date Taken: 2015:06:11 15:29 |
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Location:
Siskiyou Mountains |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: D3X0097-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 10:43 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: Cut-D3X_0084-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 10:42 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: Cut-D3X_0073-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Cibola NWR, South of Blyth, CA. In Arizona near the Colorado River. |
Date Taken: 2006:02:16 15:22 |
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Location:
Goose Loop |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 |
File Name: JCD1610MountainBlueBird |
| © 2006 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Cibola NWR, South of Blyth, CA. In Arizona near the Colorado River. |
Date Taken: 2006:02:16 15:21 |
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Location:
Goose Loop |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 |
File Name: JCD1600MountainBlueBird |
| © 2006 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Visiting for the winter at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2015:01:17 14:28 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: D3X5493-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Earning a living at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2015:01:17 14:28 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: D3X5487-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Bicknell Bottoms south of Bicknell, Utah. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:08 15:38 |
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Location:
Bicknell Bottoms |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 |
File Name: D3X0290-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: I met this nesting bird while traversing the Siskiyou Mountains from the Applegate Valley to Mount Ashland Oregon. |
Date Taken: 2015:06:11 15:30 |
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Location:
Siskiyou Mountains |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: D3X0104-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: At 9627 feet of elevation, California Highway 108 is the second highest road that crosses the Sierra Nevada Range. The pass marks the bountary between Tuolumne County and Mono County California. |
Date Taken: 2017:07:12 14:47 |
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Location:
Sonora Pass |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: MountainBlueBird_D5X8916-SonoraPass |
| © 2017 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Female at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 11:01 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: D3X_0151-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Earning a living at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 10:58 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 |
File Name: D3X_0133-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Male bird at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:08 10:49 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: D3X_0122-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Visiting for the winter at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:02:24 11:37 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: D3X2964-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Visiting for the winter at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:02:24 12:42 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: D3X3051-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Visiting for the winter at the Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:02:24 11:32 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/9.0, 1/640 |
File Name: D3X2929-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Ramona Grasslands Preserve. Ramona, California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2014:02:24 12:49 |
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Location:
Ramona Grassland Preserve |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 |
File Name: D3X3096-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging. |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: This was my first Mountain Bluebird sighting at Bosque. It was a relatively slow day for birds at Bosque del Apache, but even a slow day there beats most places I’ve birded. |
Date Taken: 2020:11:30 12:13 |
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Location:
Bosque del Apache NWR |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/8000 |
File Name: MountainBlueBird_D5X2999-BosqueDelApache |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: This was my first Mountain Bluebird sighting at Bosque. It was a relatively slow day for birds at Bosque del Apache, but even a slow day there beats most places I’ve birded. |
Date Taken: 2020:11:30 12:13 |
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Location:
Bosque del Apache NWR |
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Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/8000 |
File Name: MountainBlueBird_D5X2998-BosqueDelApache |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Mountain Bluebird(Sialia currucoides) |
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Description: Viewed while traversing the Siskiyou Mountains from the Applegate Valley to Mount Ashland Oregon. |
Date Taken: 2015:06:11 15:23 |
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Location:
Siskiyou Mountains |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/5000 |
File Name: D3X0078-MountainBlueBird |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |
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