PhotoPost is a new feature on Flying Lessons built around photos and videos. Today’s subject is the bluebird, a conservation success story that can be found in every state in the U.S. The bluebird seems sent from central casting, with deep luminescent blue color, musical song and daily routines that make it easy to watch. In many ways, the bluebird is a symbol of spring.
The most striking trait is its royal blue color, which is actually an illusion created by the refraction of light in its plumage. It’s depth of color varies with the sun, as this Eastern Bluebird shows in the soft afternoon light.
Bluebirds were in sharp decline in the mid-1900s, squeezed out of their habitat by starlings and finches. That led to a rescue campaign that planted bluebird boxes across the U.S. and brought back the three species, the Eastern, Western and Mountain Bluebird. Today, they are often on display where people tend to live, perched on fences, wires and branches, and simple to identify as a flash of blue. They’re active, expressive and don’t seem to mind an audience, as these photos show:
Here’s a 45-second video of an Eastern Bluebird in hunting mode. Watch how he studies everything around him: