Western Bluebird

Western bluebird with grasshopper - Oosoyos

I have done a lot of walking in many places, and am always on the lookout for any type of wildlife.  Sometimes I am fortunate and get to see species like the western bluebird in the above photo.  They used to be more common, but have declined over the last hundred or so years.  The main reason has been the European starling, which has taken away its nesting areas.  Western bluebirds, like starlings, require a hole and cavity in something to construct a nest.  Unfortunately, the starling is much more aggressive and is more likely to get a nesting spot before or from a bluebird.

The thing that impressed me was the fact that you can build birdhouses which are geared towards these feathered beauties.  They have a different point of entry than traditional structures and the openings are flat, not round.  The Mountain bluebirds can get into these while the starlings can not.  If we want to see an increase in the population of them we have to start building them in natural areas where they live.  It will no doubt take a while before we see an increase in their numbers, because the population has been decimated.

I have been fortunate to see the western bluebird about a half dozen times.  Although they do live in the lower mainland, I have only ever seen them in other places in BC and Alberta, and always in open areas.  I do not think they are fond of living around humans, unlike the starling which can live wherever we are.  So, nesting sites in your back yard probably won't work.  It will be up to parks and rural land owners to help them regain a foothold.

It would be nice to see them on a regular basis instead of just inadvertently.  The less we care about our ecosystem the more likely we will restrict our species' diversity.  Wouldn't it be terrible if the only birds you ever saw were robins, starlings, crows, and pigeons?  That is where things are headed if there is no action.