Eastern Bluebird

About the Eastern Bluebird

The eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) is a small North American migratory thrush found in open woodlands, farmlands, and orchards. The bright-blue breeding plumage of the male, easily observed on a wire or open perch, makes this species a favorite of birders. The male's call includes sometimes soft warbles of jeew or chir-wi, or the melodious song chiti WEEW wewidoo.

It is the state bird of Missouri and New York. The eastern bluebird was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Motacilla sialis. The type location is South Carolina. Linnaeus based his short Latin description on the earlier more detailed descriptions by the English naturalists Mark Catesby and George Edwards. The eastern bluebird is now placed in the genus Sialia that was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827 with the eastern bluebird as the type species.

Seven subspecies are recognized: S. s. sialis (Linnaeus, 1758) – south, southeast Canada, east, central US and northeast Mexico S. s. bermudensis Verrill, AH, 1901 – Bermuda S. s. nidificans Phillips, AR, 1991 – east central Mexico

S. s... Wikipedia →