What is that blue bird on my bird feeder?
- Birds of West Cobb
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
In the Southern United States (We are located in Marietta, Georgia in case you are a new reader) there are quite a few different birds that are either blue, violet or perhaps a combination of these with a few other colors mixed in. You may ask yourself "What is that blue bird on my bird feeder?" If you are relatively new to the birding scene, you may be looking to identify the species that you've been seeing in your yard or on your bird feeders. Birds of West Cobb is here to help with this! We'll take a look at the most common Blue-colored birds as well as a few less-common species that you may only see occasionally, but not daily like the others.
The most common (in our opinion) Blue bird that you'll see on your bird feeder is the Eastern Blue Jay. These birds are pretty intelligent and usually arrive in a group of 2-5 birds. Even more are possible in the Spring/Summer months when they are feeding their fledglings. They can be aggressive at times, chasing off smaller birds or slamming down onto feeders with a distinctive "thud". Often times, they will mimic Red-shouldered Hawks or even Red-tailed Hawk bird calls and do this to chase other birds away from the bird feeders so there is ample food for their group and not the others. Below I've included some photos of Eastern Blue Jays, both adults and fledglings, below for help identifying them. Blue, white, black and shades of gray are the key colors you'll see when looking at an Eastern Blue Jay, even in the young (although the colors will be a bit muted.
Adult Eastern Blue Jays shown here in the first group:
Here are a few photos of a fledgling Eastern Blue Jay to give you an idea how closely they resemble their parents, as soon as they can fledge the nest.
How can you attract Eastern Blue Jays to your bird feeder? These are medium-large birds and they prefer eating from open topped feeders (plates, platforms or similar) that have ample clearance. We often joke that they "come in HOT" because they fly down and hit the plates so hard they often shake on the deck railings. The key to attracting them though, is the right food sources. They enjoy C&S Suet Nuggets (peanut flavored) as well as mixed seed blends with larger seeds included such as peanuts, sunflower chips. However, they are omnivores and will also eat insects and you can attract them with peanut suet cakes as well as dried mealworms.
Product Links listed here for your convenience:
The next most common blue colored bird in the Southeast (thanks to conservationist efforts since the late 1980's & early 1990's) is the Eastern Bluebird. Often referred to as the "Blue bird of happiness", there are few birds more beautiful in North America than the Male Eastern Bluebird. These stunning birds were almost completely wiped out due to feral cat populations, the lack of tree cavities that they would nest in naturally, as well as the increase in pesticides and other harmful chemicals and even window strikes. Due to a huge following and volunteer movement, as well as a large number of retailers now carrying Eastern Bluebird Nest Boxes, the numbers of these beauties are on the rise once again! Below, I've included some photos of the Males, Females and fledgling Eastern Bluebirds.
Here are some close-up photos of male Eastern Bluebirds in this first group:
In this next group, we've included some photos of adult Female Eastern Bluebirds:
Finally, we've also included some photos of Fledglings or Juvenile Eastern Bluebirds. Take a look how adorable these young birds are!
How do you attract these adorable Eastern Bluebirds to your yard? Bluebirds love a good water source, but your best bet is once again the food you put out for these beauties. Eastern Bluebirds will seldom eat seeds, but they will eat berries like service berries, blueberries, dogwood berries and more. We are currently planning out our backyard native plant garden so we can provide more of these foods to our feathered friends. However, they are primarily insectivores and the best luck we have ever had, was to offer up dried mealworms regularly in our feeders. We fill the feeders each morning and have been doing this for years. It may take some time, but even with our heavily wooded property we were able to attract these bluebirds to our yard, and they have even been nesting in our bluebird boxes as well - all because we offer the food that they love!
Here is a link to the dried mealworms for purchase on Amazon:
A small, finch-sized bird that sometimes appears more violet than blue, and is typically seen less frequently than the two species above, is the Indigo Bunting. Keeping the size in mind, the wings are blue/violet just as the head, breast and tail. The Indigo Bunting's beak is much smaller and made for cracking open small seeds, eating berries and tiny insects. Keep these key points in mind as the next blue bird on our list is significantly different!
Unfortunately I have only seen a handful of these in 20+ years of birding in Georgia. (I've seen just as many while riding bicycles on the Silver Comet Trail as I have in our yard near the bird feeders!). Keep in mind that theses are small birds, similar to a house finch or tufted titmouse. If you see a blue colored bird but it's larger than these common feeder visitors, you may have just spotted a Blue Grosbeak (next result, below).
An adult male Indigo Bunting visited for a drink of water What foods can you put out to attract Indigo Buntings to your feeders?
Millet is a popular choice but we don't usually put it out for fear of the "waste" that spills onto the ground below the feeders. Other birders say that they have success with thistle seed, and sunflower chips as well. So far, we've seen them twice in the yard and they only stopped by for water.
Product links for food options to attract Indigo Buntings to your feeders:
There is another bird that is often confused with the Indigo Bunting (above) due to a similar shade of blue/violet, however there are significant differences in the sizes of these two birds, as well as the size of their beaks, and most noticeably the coloration of the wing feathers, as they appear as brownish instead of the continuation of blue that you'd see all over the smaller Indigo Bunting. This blue-colored bird is known as the Blue Grosbeak. (image below for reference).
Blue Grosbeaks enjoy a diet of berries (seen in the photo above) and they heavily rely on insects and spiders during spring months as well. Typically you can spot these birds at the edges of large fields or meadows, or even some overgrown farmland. We follow a few local birders on instagram that seem to capture these beauties frequently at Green Meadows Preserve, which is located in Marietta along Dallas Highway near the Avenues of West Cobb.
Can you attract Blue Grosbeaks to your feeders with seeds?
You sure can. You'll probably have better luck with a native plant garden including berries like service berry, native blueberries or black cherries & dogwoods though. Others have luck with Safflower Seeds and Sunflower chips, we just have not had any success (and we live pretty near the Green Meadows, less than a mile away!).
We've included some links to purchase these on Amazon, if you'd like to give it a try or if you've already seen these birds in your yard and you want to see them more frequently:
Have you seen these birds at your feeders? Which one is your favorite, and which one is on your Life List? Comment below! We'd love to hear from you!
-BoWC
(Lisa & Dan)
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