Conservation Guardians of Northwest Illinois
Singin' the Blues
As a young girl, my first recollection of bluebirds was in a park
near where we lived. My parents went there often to collect water
from the flowing well. I have never forgotten that first flash of
blue and my first impressions of that delicate, lovely songbird. Years
later, my bluebird sightings were in rural, country settings such
as Pike County in Central Illinois, in Texas brush country during
winter, and eventually in Jo Daviess County.
Bluebirds are native only to North America even though they are celebrated
the world over. In addition to our own eastern bluebird, there is
the mountain bluebird (Sialia currocoides) and the western bluebird
(Sialia mexicana), all members of the thrush family. The Latin name
for the eastern bluebird is Sialia sialis, meaning “a kind of
bird.”
Native Americans and original settlers shared a love and appreciation
of the bluebird. Many native tribes considered the bluebird sacred.
Bluebirds have long been considered harbingers of spring and symbols
of love, happiness, and hope.
In the 1871 version of Wake-Robin, American naturalist John Burroughs
wrote:
"The bluebird enjoys the pre-eminence of being the first bit
of color that cheers our northern landscape. The other birds that
arrive about the same time -- the sparrow, the robin, the phoebe-bird
-- are clad in neutral tints, gray, brown, or russet; but the bluebird
brings one of the primary hues and the divinest of them all."
Bluebirds have inspired the Arts from verse to music to ballet. In
1908 Belgian poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck wrote “The
Blue Bird,” a story steeped in fairy-tale optimism. In the stage
play, two young children set out to find the Bluebird of Happiness.
Several films were based on this story, including a 1940 version starring
Shirley Temple. In 1919, an opera based on the original Maeterlinck
play was written by French composer Albert Wolff and performed at
the New York Metropolitan Opera. A popular song titled “Bluebird
of Happiness” was recorded in 1948, making its debut at Radio
City Music Hall. Many popular songs of the day followed, using the
symbolic bluebird as theme.
My serious relationship with bluebirds started in the mid 1990s with
the purchase of forested land in rural Galena, Illinois. It was common
knowledge that the eastern bluebird population had suffered a 90 percent
decline because of diminished habitat and pesticide use. My association
with the Natural Area Guardians taught me what I needed to know about
monitoring bluebird boxes. This was a huge task in Jo Daviess County
with many people cooperating in the effort to promote conservation
and provide safe housing for the bluebirds. The County typically fledges
a total of 1600 nestlings per year.
“The Bluebird carries the sky on his back” is an often
quoted description by American author Henry David Thoreau. There is
no doubt that the luminescence of the male is a striking study in
blue. It is my observation that the male exhibits a more brilliant
coloring during the care and raising of the first brood. As time goes
by, he displays a lighter shade, not so intense as in the early breeding
season.
The bluebird diet consists of a variety of bugs and soft-bodied insects
as well as in-season berries. The bluebirds particularly enjoy freshly-cut
paths, making the insects easier to pick up. The care and feeding
of the nestlings is shared by both parents. Since the nest box isn't
big enough to accommodate everyone at the same time, one parent will
sit on a nearby perch waiting its turn to feed the young.
At the beginning of August while the other neighborhood birds are
raising their half-grown chicks, my resident bluebirds are with eggs
again - their third brood. I attribute their productivity to the mealworms
in their diet.
Fledglings stay with their parents for a number of weeks. During that
time Father Bluebird assumes complete responsibility for feeding the
young birds mealworms, picking up as many worms as his beak will hold
and distributing them to the ever open-mouthed youngsters.
Mother bluebird was always rather shy. When the group gets together
for mealworms, she removes herself, sometimes standing on the nest
box. John Burroughs’ interpretation of female bluebird behavior
explains:
There never was a happier or more devoted husband than the male bluebird
is. But among nearly all our familiar birds the serious cares of life
seem to devolve almost entirely on the female....If his life is all
poetry and romance, hers is all business and prose. She has no pleasure
but her duty, and no duty but to look after her nest and brood.
It is my habit to look in on the bluebirds every day. Later in August,
when the nest was newly emptied, I walked to my usual viewing spot
under the trees. Apparently my shade tree was host to a brand new
fledgling and when I came too near, a chase ensued. Visibly upset,
the parents urged me to vacate my spot. The whole family left a short
time later. I so regretted my loss.
Wild birds never forget for a moment what their duty in life is. No
matter how tame you imagine them to be, they are wild birds defending
their young with all the defenses they can muster. There is a purity
of spirit and an unmatched determination to protect their own and
insure the survival of their kind. Somehow in our zest and zeal for
acquiring land and dominance, we seem to have lost our sensitivity
to realizing what we lose. Frequently, that loss cannot be replaced,
and we mortals find ourselves sadder and wiser. Bluebirds have come
very close to that fine line in the sand where they can vanish; that
flash of blue, though fleeting, is a joy to behold. We need to keep
our eyes on the prize.
— Barbara Baird
