The Backyard Birdsong Guide Eastern and Central North America by Donald Kroodsma

Author:Donald Kroodsma
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781943645169
Publisher: Cornell Lab Publishing Group
Published: 2016-04-05T16:00:00+00:00

Daytime caroling songs

Dawn song with carols and hissellys

EASTERN BLUEBIRD

(Sialia sialis)

Summer

Year-round

Winter

HABITAT: Open areas with sparse ground vegetation, often using nest boxes: farmlands, orchards, clear-cuts, golf courses, and parks

DESCRIPTION: Male is stunning, rich blue above and red-orange below with white belly; female paler, blue-gray above and pale orange below with brown wash across back; wings and tail awash with dull blue

Those who love the bluebird often confess that he’s no great singer—indeed, he is uninspiring compared with some of his thrush relatives. Still, these bluebird lovers gush about his soft and simple songs being rich and sweet, melodious and mellow, pleasing and cheerful, and, of course, charming in how they express affection.

The song is often quiet, not carrying very far, and is a simple, short warbled song of several notes, lasting less than a second. It’s surprisingly low-pitched for a songbird this size, perhaps even a little lower than the robin’s, even though the bluebird is less than half the robin’s size. Lacking any shrill, higher-pitched notes, these songs convey all of the pleasing qualities that delight bluebird lovers.

Listen to each song and you’ll often find a pattern; he frequently alternates two distinctly different songs, sometimes rising on one song and falling on the next, as if asking a question and answering it. Other times he plays with three or even five songs, alternating among them.

In the darkness of the predawn hour, the bluebird transforms into a far more aggressive singer at his loudest volume, singing up to fifteen songs per minute and chattering between songs as he and neighboring males argue. After twenty minutes or so, he ends his burst and returns to the nest box, singing more softly again.

Listen also for the call note; it is as sweet as the songs—a musical, rising tur-a-lee or chur-lee.

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