Bluebird Tango

Is there an Arthur Murray Dance Studio for birds? There must be. I watched two Western Bluebirds perform a tango over my property early one April morning. It was a production worthy of Dancing with the Stars.

The pair made a surprise grand entrance out of the clear blue sky, while songsters from the neighborhood provided vocal accompaniment: Acorn Woodpeckers, House Wrens, California Scrub Jays, Oak Titmice, Western Kingbirds, Ash Throated Flycatchers, White Breasted Nuthatches, House Finches, with occasional solos by California Quail, and Common Ravens. Talk about acoustical backup. Wow!

Still, the gleeful refrains by the bluebirds themselves resonated in my ears, upstaging a magnificent dawn chorus already in full throttle. I was mesmerized by the action, so much so that I didn’t think of replacing the shovel in my hand with a camera until it was too late.

Kiting ever so briefly, the male fluttered his wings in front of the female who was perched on a branch. This courtship behavior seemed to be saying:

“Come hither, my sweet tweet.

Look at my feathers, they’re so blue.

I’m fit…

To be tied to you for a season or two.

You build the nest, and I’ll help with the chores,

Our genes will renew for evermore.”

The two love birds then launched themselves up into the open sky. They raced in circles above the tree canopy, one chasing after the other. Their routine culminated with a vertical ascent, wings flapping in tandem while they touched toe to toe. They repeated this spectacle several times, accompanied all the while by a sublime iteration of their jubilant vocalizations, a veritable avian “Ode to Joy.”

Could this have been an engagement party, or was it an elopement? In any event, the pair eyed a nest box that I had installed a few years earlier, each one looking inside several times while the other, standing on top, stood by. Their chatter told me they were excited to have found an available short term rental in prime oak woodland real estate in the foothills of the Sierra, south of Yosemite National Park, where I make my home.

Watching this nesting activity was a hopeful moment for me, and filled with great anticipation. You see, the bluebirds who nested in that box last year abandoned it for some reason without laying eggs.

This year, things were different: the female laid two eggs. With regard to food resources, their timing was perfect. Common Fiddleneck, standing three feet high, blanketed the landscape, and the surrounding Blue Oaks were fully leafed out, each providing habitat for the flying insects and caterpillars that bluebird chicks need for proper nourishment at this early stage in life.

Western Bluebird eating caterpillar

The pickings were easy, too. One morning, between the two adults, I logged 37 food delivery trips during a single hour (followed by an almost equal number of fecal sac removals). Casual observation seemed to confirm this pace throughout most of the day.

Western Bluebird removing fecal sac from nest

After two weeks, I knew the chicks were on the verge of fledging. Two little heads poked noisily out of the nest box hole whenever an adult arrived with food. One chick would push the other out of the way, and emerge to its shoulders, eyes peeled and bursting with anticipation of exploring the wide, wondrous world outside the box.

Bluebird feeding nestlings video

I expected their escape from their confines would happen in a day or two, and I counted on recording the event. The next day, disappointedly, it rained and I had to keep my camera dry. When I went to check the nest box early the following morning, the airwaves were silent; the fledglings were nowhere to be seen. All that remained in the box was a dirty nest and two dried up beetles.

I hoped that the bluebird pair would produce another clutch this season, but that turned out to be wishful thinking. Oh, well, maybe next year we will all try again, and I’ll have my photo moment of choice. Many happy returns, my beloved bluebirds.

Biology notes: 1) birds select mates that look healthy, and an indication of fitness is the quality of feather color. 2) the female Western Bluebird constructs the nest and broods the eggs; the male helps with feeding and removal of fecal sacs. 3) nestlings of altricial birds like bluebirds excrete waste in a mucous membrane, i.e. a fecal sac, in essence, bird Pampers.

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