Blue Birds in California: a Guide to California’s Blue Bird Species (2024)

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Are you fascinated by the blue birds of California? You’re not alone! In fact, there are over 14 species of blue birds that call this beautiful state home.

To get a better understanding of these vibrant feathered friends, let’s take a look at their unique characteristics and habitats.

Pinyon Jay pairs mate for life and often live together with other family members in large groups up to 15 individuals strong!

With detailed information about diet, appearance, nesting habits, and range maps—as well as photos—this guide will help you learn everything you need to know about these majestic creatures while offering an inspiring glimpse into how they thrive in our natural environment.

Mountain Bluebird

You’ll spot the brilliant sky-blue Mountain Bluebird darting across high open meadows as you hike through the Sierras. As you traverse alpine habitats above 8,000 feet, listen for the warbling song of this striking thrush.

Mountain Bluebirds migrate in flocks from the northern Rockies to overwinter in California’s Central Valley and foothills. They prefer open terrain and nest in existing cavities, readily using nest boxes.

Their diet consists mainly of insects, especially grasshoppers, beetles and ants.

To support Mountain Bluebird conservation, reduce pesticide use and leave dead trees standing. Embrace opportunities to observe these dazzling blue birds gracing California’s beautiful mountain landscapes.

Appreciate their important role in controlling insects and brightening your hikes with their vibrant colors.

Pinyon Jay

Surveying most of the state from conifer forests and oak woodlands up to alpine tundra, the noisy flock-dwelling pinyon jay sports a soft blue plumage just a shade darker than a robin’s egg.

With pointed crest feathers and a long tail, you’ll recognize this sociable corvid by its blue-and-white streaked appearance and raucous calls.

Moving in nomadic flocks, they forage on pine nuts and acorns, but also berries, insects, eggs, nestlings, and carrion. You can entice them with peanuts, raisins, dried fruit, or suet. Though abundant, helping monitor populations helps conservation efforts for the bird voted Nevada’s state bird in 1967.

• Crest feathers form a point when raised.
• Mostly blue plumage with white throat and belly.
• Omnivorous diet of pine nuts, acorns, insects.
• Gregarious, traveling and nesting in large flocks.
• Makes a variety of loud, scratchy vocalizations.
• Range extends across Western U.S. and Mexico.

Western Bluebird

With a brilliant flash of cerulean against the golden hills, the Western Bluebird’s melodious song echoes through oak woodlands as it flits between perches.

Found across the western United States into British Columbia, the vivid Western Bluebird thrives in open woodlands and savannas. With a diet rich in insects and berries, these active birds stay busy searching for food.

Their migration patterns bring colorful flashes of blue to backyards and parks as they return each spring.

While males sport brilliant blue plumage on their heads and backs, females show more muted tones of blue-gray. Careful observers may spot regional color variations, from deep azure in the north to pale sky blue in the south.

Conservation of their preferred habitat remains vital, as human changes to the landscape have caused declines.

Providing nest boxes and reducing pesticide use aids their recovery, ensuring the Western Bluebird’s beautiful song continues to fill California’s oak woodlands.

California Scrub Jay

Leaving the melodious Western Bluebird behind, your attention turns to the bold and brash California Scrub Jay. As a year-round resident, this resourceful corvid brightens California landscapes with its vibrant plumage and raucous calls.

Boisterous and brainy, the California Scrub Jay adapts readily to human-altered environments yet still requires native oak woodlands for breeding. By protecting its habitat and appreciating its role in chaparral ecosystems, you aid the conservation of this iconic Californian bird.

Though different in demeanor from the Western Bluebird, it remains no less captivating.

Barn Swallow

You’ll spot those rusty-bellied barn swallows swooping low over fields and ponds as you explore California’s landscapes. These sleek aerialists dart and glide gracefully on swept-back pointed wings, snapping up insects in flight.

Their long tail streamers and short legs give them a unique silhouette. Barn swallows migrate all the way to South America for winter, so enjoy their aerial acrobatics while they’re here.

From April to July, watch for mud nests stuck to vertical surfaces like barn walls or cliff faces. The cup-shaped constructions have a distinctive oval entrance. Listen for rattling twitters as the birds gather mud and defend nest sites.

Support barn swallow conservation by installing nest boxes. Let these speedy insect-eaters grace your skies, reminding us that freedom takes flight on slender wings.

Blue Grosbeak

The blue grosbeak’s striking indigo plumage will entice your inner ornithologist as it flits through the chaparral of California. These large finches breed in the southwestern United States and winter in Mexico, with some remaining year-round in southern California and the Channel Islands.

Listen for their warbled, robin-like song as the male sings from a high perch to defend his territory.

Blue grosbeaks forage on the ground and in bushes and trees for seeds, fruits, and insects. They’re monogamous, breeding in late spring and raising one brood per year. Though still common, their numbers have declined over the last fifty years due to habitat loss, so enjoy sightings of these vibrant blue beauties when you can.

Learning to identify species like the blue grosbeak will give you a deeper appreciation for California’s diverse native birds.

Cliff Swallow

Now in California, you’ve seen these little brown cliff swallows zigging and zagging over fields, catching insects on the wing. With their chestnut colored heads and pale throats, these fast flying aerial acrobats dart and swoop with ease.

Cliff swallows are highly social, nesting in large colonies on cliff faces, under eaves, and on human-made structures. Their gourd-shaped mud nests cling precariously, often built in clusters. Migrating in large flocks, they winter in South America but return to breed across North America near open areas with a source of mud for nest construction.

Insectivorous, they snatch flying insects on the wing. Gregarious and active, watch for their graceful maneuvering and excitable chatter. Appreciate their intricate nests and migratory habits as you observe California’s cliff swallows gathering mud and insects.

Island Scrub Jay

Peering across California’s Channel Islands, you’re eagerly spotting the endemic Island Scrub Jay with its stunning deep blue plumage and bright white underside unique to this species. Known for their strong social bonds, these jays live in family groups and spend much of their time grooming each other.

They are found only on Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the Channel Islands located off the coast of Southern California.

With a limited range and population, the Island Scrub Jay faces threats from habitat loss, predation, and competition from the more aggressive Western Scrub-Jay.

To support their survival:

1. Respect protected areas when visiting the Channel Islands.
2. Don’t feed or interact with jays to avoid disrupting natural behaviors.
3. Volunteer with habitat restoration projects through organizations like the National Park Service.
4. Report jay sightings to help scientists track populations.

Though restricted to one small island, the Island Scrub Jay remains a treasured part of California’s avifauna. With care and stewardship, this species can continue thriving in its island stronghold for generations to come.

Lazuli Bunting

You’ll spot the brilliant blue Lazuli Bunting flitting through shrubs across California each summer. This small songbird breeds in open woodlands and chaparral habitat, favoring shrubby areas with scattered trees.

Though some Lazuli Buntings reside year-round, most migrate south to Mexico for the winter. Listen for the songbird’s lively, complex warbling that ascends in pitch and quickens in tempo. Watch for the male’s stunning indigo head and back contrasting with his rusty breast and white belly.

To attract Lazuli Buntings, provide native plants like serviceberry or currant for cover, and consider offering mealworms or berries in feeders. Conserving shrubland habitat helps support breeding and migrating Lazuli Buntings across the western states.

Steller’s Jay

You can spot Steller’s jays with their bold blue and black plumage in dense coniferous woodlands of the mountains and foothills along the Pacific Coast. These jays are intelligent and adaptable birds that have expanded their range northward in recent decades.

Steller’s jays are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders. Their diet includes insects, seeds, nuts, fruits, eggs, and small vertebrates. They’re known for their loud, harsh calls that sound like shrill whistles and screams.

Steller’s jays are year-round residents throughout their range and build large, cup-shaped nests high in conifers. By understanding the biology and behavior of Steller’s jays, birdwatchers can better appreciate these striking birds gracing the forests of the western states.