Mountain Bluebird

Mountain bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) are a member of the thrush family (also home to the American robin). Bluebirds are one of the most recognizable songbirds, and one of the most sought after. There are three bluebird species in North America. In the east, there is the eastern bluebird, and in the west, there are two species of bluebird: western and mountain bluebirds.

Male and female mountain bluebirds
Photo by: Matt Brincka

Adult males are a beautiful turquoise-blue with a lighter blue chest and belly, where females are a duller blue with grey. In the fall, females can show a slight re-orange on the throat and breast. It isn't common to see a bird that is pure blue in color in North America, making the mountain bluebird an even more attractive site. Their range spans from Mexico to the as far north as Alaska. Northern birds will migrate down to the southern reaches of the range, while birds found in Mexico are often year-long residents. They can be found in open rangelands and meadows above 5,000 feet.

Male mountain bluebird with a snack
Photo by: Matt Brincka

Mountain bluebirds were once considered threatened due to an increase in agricultural land, destroying habitats. However, thanks to an overwhelming effort by landowners in the West to provide bird boxes for these cavity nesters, their numbers have dramatic increased. Little is know about native nesting requirements, for the vast majority of couples that are studied use nest boxes.

Male mountain bluebird
Photo by: Matt Brincka

Interesting Tid-Bits

• Usually hunts from perches, flying to the ground to catch prey. Does exhibit fly catcher behavior (hunts from perch and catches prey in the air).
• Only females make nests. Males pretend to help, but usually either drops or just shows up with no nesting material at all.
• Mountain bluebirds are sometimes credited with halting or slowing the advance of eastern bluebirds into the west because the out compete them for nesting sites.
• A very slow migrator, stopping often to feed (fatty).

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Sorry it took so long for an update, I've been rather busy (and Colorado has been a mess lately!) I'll be posting another 2-3 post over the next week or so to make up for it! Including a post on Yellowstone National Park and American bison!

House Finch

House finches, Haemorhous mexicanus, are one of my favorite bird feeder birds. The general curious nature and spark of color provides an enjoying viewing experience. They tend to collect at feeders in small groups and sit perfectly still while they shell seeds with their large beaks, making them great birds for children and adults alike to sit and watch for extended periods of time.

Male house finch harvesting some food

House finches can now be found across the continental United States, however, that is not their natural range. They are actually native to the deserts, grasslands, shrub lands and open forests of the western United States. In 1870, they were introduced to Hawaii from San Francisco and became abundant on all major island by the early 1900s. In 1940, a small group house finches was released on Long Island, New York, where they spread quickly and have now become a staple siting at feeders. They are commonly found in city parks, backyards, and urban centers across the continent. They are so prevalent, scientists predict there is somewhere between 260 million and 1.4 billion individuals across North America!

Two male house finches

House finches show sexual dimorphism, meaning males and females are noticeably different. Males have a beautiful rosy red coloration on the head and breast, while the females are a plain gray-brown. All birds, however, can't make their own red and yellow colorations directly. Male house finches actually get their red color from the pigments contained in its food during molt. The more pigment in the food, the redder the male. The redder the male, the sexier, for females typically mate with the reddest male the can set their eyes on.

Interesting tid-bits

• Nestling's diets are not supplemented with insects, but instead are fed only plant materials. This is a relatively rare behavior compared to other bird species.
• Male house finches are known to feed their female counterparts during courtship rituals
• Usually breeds 2+ times between February and August.
• To combat casualties due to nest mite infestations, the mother will often lay eggs of one gender for each brood, increasing the chance of survival.
• A victim of Brown-headed Cowbirds, a brood parasite, but since cowbirds require a supplement of insects in their diet, the young rarely survive in house finch nests.

Hummingbirds: The Little Birds That Could

Probably one of the most sought after bird family and probably the most recognizable, hummingbirds are almost a thing from a fantasy faerie world. The majority of hummers fall into the pint-size category between 3-5 inches, however, the Bee hummingbird is a ridiculously scant 5 cm in size, making it the smallest extant bird species known. There are 17 known hummingbird species within North America, 356 world wide and 51 of them are endangered.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird © Matt Brincka

For being so small, they are packed with an arsenal of adaptations. They are able to hover in mid-air while beating their wings an exhilarating 12-80 times per second (depending on the species). They can reach speeds of nearly 35 mph and are also the only known group of birds that can fly backwards. That's right... backwards!

Broad-tailed Hummingbird © Matt Brincka

Since they are so small, they have an amazing heartbeat of roughly 1200 beats per minute and have the highest metabolism of all animals (except insects); a necessity to support the rapid beating of their wings. A high metabolism requires a lot of food, in which they consume more than their own weight in nectar each day, visiting hundreds of flowers to get the needed food. It is said hummingbirds are always hours away from starvation... so what do they do when food is scarce? What do they do during the night? Hummingbirds are capable to go into a state of torpor, a hibernation-like state. Topor is not hibernation, but it is similar. When going into topor, a hummingbird can lower their metabolic rate to nearly to 1/15 of its normal rate, with a heartbeat of only 50-180 beats per second.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird © Matt Brincka

To attract these beautiful litte buggers, go grab a hummingbird feeder at your local store. Don't, however, buy the dyed humming bird food. It is much healthier (no artificial dyes) and easier to make your own.

Fool-proof hummingbird food recipe

4 cups of water (filtered if possible)

1 cup of white sugar

1. Bring water to a boil
2. Take water off of heat
3. Add sugar and stir to dissolve sugar
4. Let nectar cool to room temperature
5. Place in a clean humming bird feed

***Make sure you check your feeder for mold periodically. If mold is found, dump food and disinfect with warm water and soap. Rinse thoroughly with fresh water once clean.

Interesting tid-bits

• The Aztec god Huitzilopochtli is often depicted as a hummingbird.
• They are able to assess how much sugar is in the nectar they eat, and often reject flowers with less than 10% sugar.
• Hummingbirds don't only eat nectar! To meet their needs for protein, amino acids, vitamins and minerals they prey on insects and spiders.
• Many hummingbird species make their nests out of spider silk.
• Longest recorded lifespan is 12 years.
• Some hummingbird species in North American are known to travel hundreds of miles during migrating. The ruby-throated humming bird actually flies non-stop over the entire Gulf of Mexico!

If you need a larger version of this very interesting infographic, click the picture or find an even larger version here.

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Record your sitings and help with hummingbird conservation at National Audubon's Hummingbirds At Home website or phone application and at eBird.

An interesting website to learn anything from hummingbird first aid to hummingbird stories is the World of Hummingbirds. Enjoy!

Pictures in this post were taken with a Samsung Galaxy SII... only proving you don't need a $10,000 camera to get awesome pictures. You just need brave wildlife!