{"id":128650,"date":"2024-05-17T03:58:54","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T08:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=128650"},"modified":"2024-05-16T13:28:26","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T18:28:26","slug":"male-eastern-bluebird-teaching-his-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/17\/male-eastern-bluebird-teaching-his-young\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Eastern Bluebird Teaching His Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before I left Arkansas, I had the privilege of seeing and photographing this male Eastern Bluebird teaching his young fledglings where to find food. I did that from the comfort of my dear friend Steve Creek’s deck.<\/p>\n

This is the same bluebird who lost his mate<\/span><\/a> just a few days before the chicks were going to fledge. He continued to care for, feed, and look after the chicks by himself until they learned to find food on their own.<\/p>\n

*To view these male Eastern Bluebird photos larger, click on the first image and scroll through them.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Eastern<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Male<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Male<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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\"Male<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Eastern<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Male<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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\"Eastern<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Male<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Excited<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Eastern<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Male<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Eastern<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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\"Male<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Eastern<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Eastern<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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As Steve and I watched and photographed the male bluebird that day, we noticed that he would land on the driftwood perch and flutter his wings repeatedly.<\/p>\n

We thought he might be teaching his young to come to that spot because Steve had been supplying mealworms for the male bluebird to feed the chicks after the female died. We observed the young bluebirds being fed high in the trees on Steve’s property for days.<\/p>\n

On this date, the male seemed determined to entice his young to come down lower so they could find the mealworms themselves.<\/p>\n

While the male fluttered his wings on the driftwood perch, he called often. We could see that the baby bluebirds were lower in the trees than they had been before.<\/p>\n

I was outside on the deck later that evening without my camera when I saw all three of the chicks land near the mealworms. Slowly, I crept to the door, told Steve to grab his camera because the bluebird chicks were close to the deck. Steve came out and photographed the chicks. We both felt privileged to see the male taking care of his young up close.<\/p>\n

By the time the chicks were on their own and when the male found a new female, I had left Arkansas. Steve wrote a great post about the days that I missed with these bluebirds which can be seen here: Eastern Bluebird Saga Finale: A New Beginning and a Farewell<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the loss of the female, it was so much fun to watch, photograph, and enjoy the family of bluebirds in Steve’s yard. I have hundreds of bluebird images I still need to go through. More to come another time!<\/p>\n

Mom would have loved seeing both mine and Steve’s photos of these bluebirds, she sure loved them!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Eastern Bluebird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I left Arkansas, I had the privilege of seeing and photographing this male Eastern Bluebird teaching his young fledglings where to find food. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13950,27,14094,13951],"tags":[4004,13965,5145,4226,5933,4880,6487,4068,4187,1996,14096,10013,13981,6239,2659,1130,13931,15051,12686,4062,1549,4104,13964,7472,14095,165,15054,15052,3844,4881,8018,7015,15053,5498,13966,4193],"class_list":["post-128650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-eastern-bluebirds","category-sebastian-county","tag-adult","tag-arkansas","tag-balancing","tag-behavior","tag-bluebird","tag-bluebirds","tag-checking-out","tag-chicks","tag-dancing-2","tag-driftwood","tag-eastern-bluebird","tag-excited","tag-feeder","tag-flapping","tag-fluttering","tag-food","tag-garden","tag-guiding","tag-lifted","tag-male","tag-perch","tag-perched","tag-sebastian-county","tag-showing","tag-sialia-sialis","tag-spring","tag-teaching","tag-tempting","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-urban","tag-watching","tag-waving","tag-wings","tag-yard","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/eastern-bluebird-fluttering-wings-mia-mcpherson-6657.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-xt0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":130987,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/07\/21\/eastern-bluebird-images-near-the-birdbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":128650,"position":0},"title":"Eastern Bluebird Images: Near The Birdbath","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing these seven Eastern Bluebird images that I took yesterday because I like them and because I am getting behind on sharing Arkansas photos.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Eastern Bluebird on driftwood over the birdbath, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/eastern-bluebird-immature-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-4512.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/eastern-bluebird-immature-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-4512.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Bluebird fluttering his wings in autumn, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-bluebird-male-wings-fluttering-mia-mcpherson-3946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-bluebird-male-wings-fluttering-mia-mcpherson-3946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-bluebird-male-wings-fluttering-mia-mcpherson-3946.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-bluebird-male-wings-fluttering-mia-mcpherson-3946.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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I took these bluebird photos two days ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Eastern Bluebird foraging on its own, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/eastern-bluebird-young-mia-mcpherson-6635.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/eastern-bluebird-young-mia-mcpherson-6635.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/eastern-bluebird-young-mia-mcpherson-6635.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/eastern-bluebird-young-mia-mcpherson-6635.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":127600,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/17\/male-eastern-bluebird-close-up-photos-with-food-for-his-chicks\/","url_meta":{"origin":128650,"position":3},"title":"Male Eastern Bluebird Close Up Photos With Food For His Chicks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I am sharing portraits of a male Eastern Bluebird that were taken in my friend Steve Creek's yard. The male bluebird was bringing food in to his chicks.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Eastern Bluebird with a spider for his chicks, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/eastern-bluebird-male-with-prey-mia-mcpherson-2614.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/eastern-bluebird-male-with-prey-mia-mcpherson-2614.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/eastern-bluebird-male-with-prey-mia-mcpherson-2614.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I simply can't resist photographing bluebirds when I see them, and this male Eastern Bluebird I had in my viewfinder yesterday was certainly no exception.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"December male Eastern Bluebird, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/eastern-bluebird-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-7034.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/eastern-bluebird-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-7034.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/eastern-bluebird-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-7034.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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