Male And Female Eastern Bluebird Arrive For An Early Romantic Dinner

I’m so conditioned to the calls of the Eastern Bluebird that as soon as I hear them off in the distance, I run inside to get the meal worms.  More often than not, within 5 minutes the male and female Bluebirds will appear.

I’ve not really studied the behavior of Bluebirds, but I have started to notice something.  Typically the male will arrive first; the female may or may not appear.  He will then eat a decent amount of meal worms, then stand guard on a nearby post.  Then the female will appear (the male always leaves some meal worms for her to eat).  She eats her fair amount of meal worms, then will often fly up into the nearby Maple tree.  Last, the male will appear again, and he gorges himself, eating a mouthful of meal worms.

I’m not confident they will nest in any of the houses I have set up for them (one of which has a camera inside), but I am pretty confident this resident pair will continue to visit for food and allow me the opportunity to take pictures.

Male Eastern Bluebird Eating Mealworm In The Evening

Here’s the female just after eating.

Female Eastern Bluebird At Dusk

And here’s the male after gorging himself.  Look how fat he is!

Male Eastern Bluebird At Dusk