Eastern Bluebird

I think we have a pair of socially dysfunctional Eastern Bluebirds.

These two have been hanging around our backyard for over a month now.

They just eat, stare, linger and lounge on a dead box elder branch.

They sometimes investigate our bluebird house to see if it is to their liking. They'll keep an eye on it from the nearby tree, too, but aren't at all motivated to build a nest.

I once saw the male remove some debris from the previous year's inhabitants and that was a promising sign, albeit short lived.

The male also brings in new nesting material from time to time.

The female takes it inside gladly. She'll look for more and seems interested in building a new nest.

The male even sings from their personal branch in the box elder, but there is no evidence of eggs or baby Eastern Bluebirds to date.

She is what's described as a 'drab adult' female in the Sibley's Guide to Birds. She doesn't have the flare of  a 'bright adult' also described in the guide. A bright adult female looks much more like the male only slightly more muted.

They will sit for long stretches of time, for a songbird anyway, sometimes six inches to six feet apart just resting and preening.

It's as if they're both waiting for something to happen.

The male fluffs and stares in her direction.

This is an obvious 'pair'... still, a month seems a bit long for a bluebird courtship, although I'm no expert on the matter.

Maybe it's the unusually cool spring we are experiencing... delaying new bluebirds... another thing I don't know. 

I'll have to leave this Feather Tailed Story open-ended right here because I just don't know what their future will be.

I'll keep you posted.

Allan

Credits: The Sibley's Guide to Birds
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds