Eastern Bluebird
Sialia sialis
Turdidae
One of New Jersey's great conservation success stories. Bluebirds nearly disappeared in the mid-20th century as cavity-nesting sites vanished and House Sparrows and starlings took the ones left. A concerted nest-box campaign brought them back. Males are electric-blue above with warm rust-orange throat and breast; females are softer washed versions of the same.
How to spot one.
6–8 inches, upright thrush posture
Male: brilliant sky-blue above, rusty red throat and chest, white belly
Female: paler blue-gray, softer orange chest
Round head, small bill
Often perched on fence posts and low branches surveying open ground
What it sounds like.
Soft warbled 'chur-lee, chur-lee' — a sweet, unhurried song. Contact call is a musical 'tu-a-wee.'
How it lives.
Cavity nester — dependent on old woodpecker holes, natural cavities in dead trees, or nest boxes. Hunts by 'still-hunting' from a low perch and dropping onto insects in short grass. Winter flocks huddle in cavities on cold nights, sometimes a dozen birds in one box.
The spec sheet.
- Status
- Year-round resident
- Size
- 6.3–8.3 inches
- Present in NJ
- Year-round
- Native to NJ
- Yes
- Conservation status
- stable
- Family
- Turdidae
What it eats.
Diet often shifts dramatically between breeding season and the rest of the year — especially for insectivorous birds that pivot to native berries in fall and winter.
Summer / breeding season
Caterpillars, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers
Spiders
Some berries as they ripen
Fall / winter
Native berries — winterberry, Virginia creeper, dogwood, sumac
Cedar and juniper berries
Persistent hawthorn fruit
What it needs.
Native plants that feed this bird or provide shelter. Names in hydrangea link to the plant’s Field Guide entry.
Winterberry Holly
Fruit / berry source
Native dogwoods
Fruit / berry source
Sumac (Rhus)
Fruit / berry source
Eastern Red Cedar
Fruit / berry source
Virginia Creeper
Fruit / berry source
Fruit / berry source
North American Bluebird Society · Summersweet NJ · Audubon
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