Mountain Bluebird
Sialia currucoides
Adult males are stunning: completely electric turquoise blue with limited white belly. Females are gray with blue wings and tail; some can show a rufous wash on breast. Also note thin bill and even longer wings compared with other bluebirds. Forages in open habitats with few trees. Can form large flocks in winter. Frequently perches on wires or fence posts. Nests in cavities.
Identification
The mountain bluebird is 15.5–18 cm (6.1–7.1 in) in length, weighs 24–37 g (0.85–1.31 oz), and has a wingspan of 11.0-14.2 in (28-36 cm). It is sexually dimorphic in the color of the plumage but the sexes are similar in size. An adult male is bright turquoise-blue above and somewhat lighter blue underneath but with a white lower belly. An adult female has duller blue wings and tail, grey breast, grey crown, throat and back. In fresh fall plumage, the female's throat and breast are brownish near the flank, contrasting with white tail underparts. Their call is a thin 'few'; while their song is warbled high 'chur chur'.
Taxonomy
The mountain bluebird was formally described in 1798 by the German ornithologist Johann Matthäus Bechstein and given the name Motacilla s. Sylvia currucoides. The specific epithet combines curruca, from Carl Linnaeus's binomial name Motacilla curruca for the lesser whitethroat with the Ancient Greek -oidēs meaning "resembling". The mountain bluebird is now placed with the two other bluebirds in the genus Sialia that was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1827. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Sialia currucoides
- Authority
- (Bechstein, 1798)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Turdidae
- Genus
- Sialia
Range and habitat
Their breeding habitat is open country across western North America, including mountainous areas, as far north as Alaska. Although mountain bluebirds can be found in some states year-round, their range is expansive — they generally migrate south to Mexico in the winter and north into western Canada and even Alaska in the summer. Depending on the time of year, they may be ubiquitous in mountain environments like grasslands or landscapes of sagebrush, where trees and shrubs are fairly spread out.
- Breeding range
- NA : w
- Non-breeding range
- w Mexico
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: rising.
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-billed Gull
Chroicocephalus bulleri
Pale gull endemic to New Zealand. White with light gray wings and back. Tips of wings have thin black border. Note long thin black bill and black or reddish-black legs (but legs turn bright red during late incubation and hatching). Non-breeding adults have a reddish tinge to the base of their bill, while immature birds have a light pink bill with a dark tip and pinkish legs. The species mostly breeds on inland braided riverbeds in the South Island, but a small proportion of the population breeds in the North Island and on the coast. Distinguished from similar Silver Gull by longer, thinner bill, less extensive black on outer wingtips, and lighter overall.
Western Black-headed Batis
Batis erlangeri
A typical black, white, and dark-gray batis. Note the chest band, which is black in males and chestnut in females. Found in woodland and moist savanna, often in pairs. Very similar to Gray-headed Batis, and best distinguished by voice, but also usually shows a darker gray crown. Also similar to Senegal and Pale Batises, but has a narrower white eyebrow stripe than the former and is darker overall than the latter. The distinctive song is a series of hollow whistles on the same pitch.
Salvadori's Serin
Crithagra xantholaema
A relatively distinctive gray-brown seedeater with a unique black-and-yellow badge on its upper chest. The yellow rump is conspicuous in flight. Found very locally in dry woodland and savanna, favoring rocky valleys. Similar to Yellow-throated Serin, but there is no known overlap in range, and Salvadori’s is easily separated by the black chest band. The song, consisting of twitters and whistles, is lower-pitched and slower-paced than that of a typical seedeater.
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