Idaho State Bird
Mountain Bluebird

Official Idaho State Bird Name: Mountain Bluebird
Family: Turdidae, Thrushes
Scientific name: Sialia currucoides
Length: 7.25" (18 cm)
Diet: Insects; also takes fruit, especially in winter. Young fed insects.
Foraging Behavior: Often hovers while foraging from ground or hawking from low perch.
Voice: Listen to Mountain Bluebird Song (recorded by Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
Song a series of low, burry whistles like call jerrf jerrf jewr jipo jerrf. Call a soft whistle similar to other bluebirds but thinner and clearer: feeer or a mellow, muffled perf, always descending; also a short, harsh chik or chak.
Habitat: Open rangelands, meadows, generally at elevations above 5,000 feet; in winter found primarily in open lowlands, desert.
Number of broods: 2
Nest: Often in woodpecker-excavated cavity; loose cup of grass, weed stems, pine needles, twigs, occasionally with hair or feathers. Female selects site.
Eggs: Averages 5-6 pale blue to bluish-white eggs, rarely white, unmarked. 0.8" (22 mm).
Incubation period: 13-14 days
Fledge: 22-23 days after hatching
Longevity Record: 9 Years and 0 months (according to USGS Bird Banding Lab)

The Mountain Bluebird was adopted as the State bird of Idaho by the State Legislature in 1931.

Bluebirds are the State Birds of three other States besides Idaho.
Go to Nevada State Bird (also the Mountain Bluebird).
Go to Missouri State Bird and New York State Bird (Eastern Bluebird).

For more information about bird houses or nest boxes for bluebirds:
Go to bluebird house plans.