Rayni Brack 6S
Bluebird
Classification
The bluebird’s class is Aves, and its order is Passeriformes. The family is Turdidae, and the species is sialia sialis.
Habitat
Bluebirds live and fly around open land with a lot of trees. They can also be seen around parks and gardens. They like places to perch. These places include hedges, fences, and utility wires. They can be found in North America, Canada, and Mexico.
Description
They are small with short, slender beaks and short legs.  Their colors are bright including blues, reds, and whites. Bluebirds are usually 16 to 21 cm in length, and .95 to 1.2 ounces in weight. The young bluebirds are grey. Males have longer feathers than females.
Diet
Bluebirds eat small fruits, spiders, beetles, crickets, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and other insects. There diet is 68 percent insects.

Endangered     
The bluebird is not endangered.
Life Span
There lifespan is between six and ten years. The oldest known bluebird is ten years and five months.
Interesting Facts
They gather in flocks of 100 or more. Bluebirds fly at a speed of about 17 miles per hour.
State Bird
The bluebird is the state bird of both Missouri and New York.

Help the Environment
By eating insects, bluebirds help control the population of them. Bluebirds influence the composition of insect communities by eating insects.
Sound
When approached by a predator, they have a song –like cry. They communicate through song.

Predators
Chipmunks, squirrels, bears, raccoons, domestic cats, and rat snakes prey on the eggs.
Mating
They mate in the spring and summer. There are between three and seven eggs at a time. The average amount of eggs is five. The eggs hatch after 13 to 16 days. After the eggs have hatched they flee in fifteen to twenty days. The reproduction age is one.
Juvenile
The juvenile bluebirds are helpers to the adult bluebirds.

Bibliography
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/sialia_sialis.html
By: Kate Fimbel
Sialia Sialis Eastern Bluebird
National Science Foundation
©1995-2008