How to Attract Mountain Bluebirds

No matter how many songbirds visit your yard, it's always a treat when a mountain bluebird flits in. The male's dashing, almost aquamarine coloring is the brightest of the three bluebird species, including the western bluebird with an overlapping range in parts of the southwestern United States, and the eastern bluebird, east of the Mississippi. Of all the bluebirds, the mountain bluebird is least likely to appreciate your feeding efforts, preferring to hover for insects in pine forests, sagebrush, desert or plains.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bird house
• Bird feeder

1. Prepare a safe habitat area by excluding any cats, including your own, your neighbor's, or free-roaming felines. Cats are notorious killers of songbirds, and you wouldn't want to inadvertently set a mountain bluebird deathtrap.

2. Start with a nest box placed far enough off the ground to elude predators (bluebirds in the wild will select tree cavities two to 50 feet off the ground). If you're lucky, a mountain bluebird might builds its nest inside with grasses, aspen bark, pine needles, shreds of sage, feathers or hair.

3. Because bluebirds are primarily insectivorous, consider maintaining a yard with a natural diversity of insects. Insect-pollinated, flowering plants that are native to your area may help. In the least, plant a variety of shrubs and flowers, and avoid the use of pesticides and other chemicals that may disrupt the food chain.

4. Stock your feeders with the treats most popular with all the bluebird species: peanut butter mixes, berries, mealworms and raisins.

5. Keep your binoculars handy and tune your ears to short sequences of the "chur" sounds and rattles which comprise the bluebird's call.

Resources

• North American Bluebird Society