Eastern Bluebird

Description: 7" bright almost iridescent blue above and on wings, tail, rusty throat and breast, white belly and undertail coverts, female similar but duller	Habitat: Open woodlands, clearings, farmlands, parks, orchards, gardens, fields, along roadsides on utility wires and fences. Numbers declined due to competition from starlings and house sparrows for nest sites.
Nesting: 4-6 pale blue eggs in a loose cup of grasses and plant stems in a natural tree cavity, old woodpecker hole, fence post or bird box	Range: breeds east of Rockies from southeast Canada to Gulf of Mexico, winters in southern portion of breeding range
Voice: call a liquid and musical turee or queedle, song a soft melodious warble	Diet: insects, earthworms, snails, other invertebrates; especially berries. Young fed primarily insects. Hawking often from low perch, catching insects near ground. Very dependent on berries in winter.

Notes: Making a comeback as people erect bluebird houses, often successfully defend nest hole against swallows or House Sparrows (but not starlings), although sparrows occasionally kill bluebird adults and nestlings, female broods, winter flocks to 100 + ; often roost singly or in small groups in nest boxes.

When present in Oklahoma: present year-round state-wide, less abundant in panhandle