Oh joy, the Bluebirds are back and I am almost delirious with delight. I thought I saw one on the porch railing last week but one sighting is all I had. Then yesterday my Neighbor Friend sent me a photo of Bluebirds at her suet feeder and sure enough, below my own suet feeder was last week’s Bluebird. I wasn’t aware suet was on their menu and I hadn’t yet ordered mealworms and a holder for them so I was on it and ta-da, the table is set and I am waiting for more sightings. It’s the little things in life that bring such unexpected gifts and nature is most often responsible.
Bluebirds have been they symbols of happiness for thousands of years and in various cultures. In Chinese mythology as early as 1766-1122 BC during the Shang dynasty a blue bird was the messenger of Xi Wangmu, the Queen Mother of the West who began as a fearsome goddess and became immortal. By 618-906 AD in the Tang dynasty she had evolved into a Daoist fairy queen who was the protectress of singing girls, dead women, novices, nuns, and priestesses. Isn’t that lovely?
In Russian fairy tales, the Bluebird is a symbol of hope. The Bluebird was included in the French “Tales of the Fairies” by Madame d’Aulnoy (1650-1705). L’Oiseau Bleu was once King Charming and then transformed aiding his lover Princess Fiordelisa.
In Native American culture, the Navaho identify the Mountain Bluebird as the spirit in animal form associated with the rising sun. The connection to the sun is continued in the Cochiti tribe where the male child of the sun is named Bluebird. In Cherokee legend, the Bluebird is said to control the wind and weather. In the Pima tradition, Bluebirds are said to drive away the winter and signal the arrival of spring. In both Navaho and Iroquois, Bluebirds may signal that a new baby will arrive.
Finally, in some translations of the Bible, Bluebirds are said to be aware of the timing of migrations and in harmony with their surroundings and the seasons. They are seen as a symbol of reassurance and hope.
Bluebirds and their associations with happiness and hope are such harbingers of better times, especially after a cold and stark winter that lasts too long. Actually at any time really. Who doesn’t think of the incredible violence and loss in our world right now? And on a more personal level, the theme continues in the lives of people I know. This year, more than most, the Bluebird symbolizes so much to so many.
The Bluebird I am most familiar with is the Eastern Bluebird although similar species include the Western Bluebird, the Mountain Bluebird, and the Indigo Bunting which I was always on the look-out for along country roads when a child. ‘My’ Eastern Bluebird is the size of a thrush with a rounded head and big belly. As usual, the male of the species has the gorgeous color; brilliant Royal blue with a rusty throat and chest and a straight beak. The females are far more subdued with a grey-ish blue tinge to the wings and tail and a light orange-brown chest. They range across eastern North America and as far south as Nicaragua. Their diet consists of mostly insects, wild fruit and berries. I did read that occasionally Bluebirds are known to capture and eat salamanders, shrews, snakes, lizards and tree frogs. Who knew? A breeding pair may use a pole mounted nest box or a cavity in a tree, sometimes one used in the past by a woodpecker. If you do decide to use a nest box, it must be carefully monitored to prevent House Sparrows from taking over. (More on that later.) The male Bluebird will display to attract a female and after mating will bring nest material to the nest hole; that’s about the extent of his contributions. The female builds the nest and incubates the eggs (2-7). The baby birds fledge around 15 days. Typically a pair have one successful brood per year although some will have a second in the summer.
Bluebirds can be found sitting on telephone wires and fence posts, abruptly dropping to the ground to catch an insect. When they fly, they are fairly low to the ground, again looking for morsels. Males are known to aggressively defend their territory against all birds regardless of size. However, when in a nest box, the female and her nestlings can be killed by House Sparrows who as often as they can, take over the nest for their own. As for life expectancy, the oldest banded Bluebird was found dead when it was greater than 10 years old.
If you are interested in enticing Bluebirds to your yard, here are some tips:
*Mealworms (beetle larvae) are a big attraction (tho limit the amount in nesting season since baby bluebirds cannot get all of their nutrition from them)
*Provide a water source
*Plant berry bushes, shrubs, and vines
*Leave dead trees which can provide a nest hole (Bluebirds will only nest in cavities of trees or appropriate nest boxes)
*Keep nesting material around (straw, feathers, fine grasses)
*Put up a nesting box ONLY if you are willing to monitor it to prevent invasive House Sparrows from taking over and killing the baby or adult Bluebirds in it
*Don’t use pesticides (of course not)
*Keep cats away (not easy but they are the biggest cause of bird predation)
*Provide perches where Bluebirds can sit and wait to catch insects
*Mark your windows with special cling forms that will warn all birds not to fly into them
Finally, to end this paean to the Bluebird: A Poem by Mary Oliver:
Then Bluebird Sang - January 14, 2010
Bluebirds slipped a little tremble out of the triangle of his mouth
And it hung in the air until it reached my ear
Like a froth or a frill that Schumann
Might have written in a dream.
Dear morning you come with so many angels of mercy
So wondrously disguised in feathers, in leaves,
In the tongues of stones, in the restless waters,
In the creep and the click and the rustle
That greet me wherever I go
With their joyful cry: I’m still here, alive!
The world needs so many more Bluebirds of Happiness. I wish you a flock, dear Beautiful Stranger.
Frances, thank you for sharing your bluebirds! It will be several weeks until they have returned here, and I am looking forward to seeing them again.
What a great piece on bluebirds, hope, happiness and delight. You lifted my spirits. Thank you.