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A Wonderful Combination: The Big Sky and Bluebirds (May 2004) Here's helpful tips on locating and identifying bluebirds in Montana. Henry David Thoreau once described the color of the Eastern Bluebird as "carrying the sky on its back." Montana is one of the few places in North America where one can experience three species of nesting bluebirds - namely the Mountain Bluebird, Eastern Bluebird, and Western Bluebird. Only Wyoming and Colorado share this unique distinction of providing habitat for all three species of nesting bluebirds. Because of the immense size of Montana - the fourth largest state - there are many birds out there carrying the Big Sky on their backs. Bluebirds in a general sense are fun to watch and relatively easy to identify. However, to narrow it down to species requires a bit of experience and knowledge. So what are the tricks for separating the three species from one another? How do you tell them apart? The first trick is knowing their habitat and distribution. Bluebirds like open country with scattered trees in which to sally, perch and run down, or hover for their primary food, which is insects.
Where they can be found The Mountain Bluebird is the most numerous of the three species and is not restricted solely to the mountains, but can be found in open areas near conifers, aspen, and cottonwoods. So, in Montana, it is as much a plains bluebird as it is a mountainous bluebird. It is found throughout 90 percent of Montana, with the least likely area being the extreme northeast corner of the Big Sky state. Mountain Bluebirds from Montana most likely winter in a a wide variety of habitats, including juniper, pine, and mesquite of Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico. The Eastern Bluebird is found most reliably, yet only occasionally, in extreme eastern Montana from a line drawn from roughly Fort Peck on the Missouri River to Forsyth and Glendive, and extending and including the vast pine areas toward Ekalaka. (Bluebirds are difficult to find east of this line, although stay alert during the summer for the possibility of seeing these hard-to-find birds there). Exceptions to the areas Eastern Bluebirds are most reliably found are spillover or satellite areas like the Wolf Creek area north of Helena, the Marias River country south of Chester, and the Elkhorn and Big Belt Mountains outside of Helena. Eastern Bluebirds can be found inhabiting cottonwood bottoms or ponderosa pine rolling hills. Eastern Bluebirds from this area migrate south and most likely spend the winter in juniper/pine habitat in eastern New Mexico, western Texas, and eastern Mexico. On the other hand, in extreme western Montana, one can find the Western Bluebird. Anytime you are west of the Continental Divide in Montana, there is a fairly good chance you could encounter the Western Bluebird and the chances increase greatly in the far western intermountain valleys such as the Bitterroot Valley northwest to the Tobacco Plains near Eureka. The hotspot for this species is the area west/northwest of the National Bison Range in places like Plains, Perma, Hot Springs and Thompson Falls. Exceptions to this rule are spillover or satellite areas such as the East Front of the Rockies between Augusta and Choteau, and the area around Belt (east of Great Falls). Western Bluebirds from Montana most likely winter in the chaparral, juniper, pine and oak habitats of California.
Arrival and departure times Most bluebirds show up in early to late March to early April, and depart sometime between late August and early October, depending on the elevation. In addition, bluebirds west of the Continental Divide have a tendency to be the first to arrive, and they depart later than bluebirds east of the Continental Divide. Climate, humidity, and elevation have something to do with it, for winters are somewhat milder and shorter in this area.
What they eat
Telling them apart First of all, male bluebirds are more colorful than females. Also, juvenile and some first-year birds do not show the vivid color tones characteristic of the sky-blue adults. The Mountain Bluebird is the easiest to identify of the three species. Male Mountain Bluebirds are completely sky-blue, with deepest or richest tones from the head to the tail and the weakest color tones on the breast and belly. Females are basically all gray with light blue tones or tinges on the wings and tail, coupled with the white belly and undertail coverts. Eastern Bluebird males are more of a dark bright blue coloration with reddish brown throat and chest and a white belly. Females are best told by being grayer but with the characteristic reddish brown throat and chest, blue wings and tail, and white belly and undertail coverts. Western Bluebird males have a deep purplish-blue head, throat, neck, wings and tail with a reddish brown chest and in some cases shoulders, with a gray blue belly. Females are much duller colored and grayer than the male, and are identified by their gray throat, rusty breast, and gray or gray-blue belly and undertail coverts.
Tough choices How to build and set up a bluebird box on your property will be the feature topic of the June issue of the Big Sky Birding column. Enjoy! And the Best of Big Sky Birding to you!
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