{"id":129969,"date":"2024-06-30T02:56:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-30T07:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=129969"},"modified":"2024-06-29T13:43:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T18:43:34","slug":"young-eastern-bluebird-second-brood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/06\/30\/young-eastern-bluebird-second-brood\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Eastern Bluebird – Second Brood"},"content":{"rendered":"

This young Eastern Bluebird is from the second brood in my friend Steve Creek’s nest box in Arkansas this year. I took these bluebird photos two days ago.<\/p>\n

\"HealthyHealthy young Eastern Bluebird \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 1000, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of you may remember that the male finished raising the first brood of chicks on his own after losing the female just two days before the chicks fledged<\/span><\/a>. He worked hard at keeping those fledglings fed all by himself.<\/p>\n

Then the male found a new female, and they laid eggs together. This young bluebird is from their union. By the time the second brood hatched, I had left Arkansas and was in Oklahoma. I didn’t get to see these chicks fledge, but I am seeing them learn to forage on their own and they have become self-reliant.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung Eastern Bluebird foraging on its own \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 1000, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This second brood of young Eastern Bluebirds seems a little more camera-shy than the first, or at least that is my perception. They have been a little harder for me to photograph.<\/p>\n

The other news is that the male and female Eastern Bluebirds in Steve’s yard appear to be raising a third brood this year. See Steve’s post about that here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The female is spending time in the box, and both the male and female are being especially defensive when Blue Jays and Red-bellied Woodpeckers come to Steve’s feeders. They repeatedly dive-bomb these two species near the nest box and feeders.<\/p>\n

Will Steve get to photograph a third brood of young bluebirds from his deck this year? Will I get to see them? Will the heat of summer make it harder for the bluebirds to raise another brood?<\/p>\n

Time will tell.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This young Eastern Bluebird is from the second brood in my friend Steve Creek’s nest box in Arkansas this year. I took these bluebird photos two days ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129963,"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":[5933,4880,4134,14096,4136,13931,3747,4109,15282,4067,4071,14095,3844,4881,8018,13966,4193],"class_list":["post-129969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-eastern-bluebirds","category-sebastian-county","tag-bluebird","tag-bluebirds","tag-chick","tag-eastern-bluebird","tag-foraging","tag-garden","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-healthy","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-sialia-sialis","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-urban","tag-yard","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/eastern-bluebird-young-mia-mcpherson-6635.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-xOh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":151051,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/07\/29\/eastern-bluebird-nest-box-news-chicks-are-ready-to-fledge\/","url_meta":{"origin":129969,"position":0},"title":"Eastern Bluebird Nest Box News – Chicks Are Ready To Fledge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Eastern Bluebird chicks in one of my friend Steve Creek's nest boxes are getting ready to fledge. It won't be long before they start exploring the world.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eastern Bluebird chick getting ready to fledge, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/eastern-bluebird-chick-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-3811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/eastern-bluebird-chick-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-3811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/eastern-bluebird-chick-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-3811.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/eastern-bluebird-chick-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-3811.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":131612,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/07\/31\/young-eastern-bluebird-fledging-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":129969,"position":1},"title":"Young Eastern Bluebird Fledging Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, the Eastern Bluebird in Steve Creek's third brood fledged. We sat for hours on his deck, waiting for the one chick to leave the nest box.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eastern Bluebird chick leaving the nest, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/eastern-bluebird-chick-nest-box-mia-mcpherson-8095.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-chick-nest-box-mia-mcpherson-8095.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/eastern-bluebird-chick-nest-box-mia-mcpherson-8095.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/eastern-bluebird-chick-nest-box-mia-mcpherson-8095.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":129969,"position":2},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/eastern-bluebird-male-with-prey-mia-mcpherson-2614.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":114177,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/07\/06\/young-eastern-bluebird-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":129969,"position":3},"title":"Young Eastern Bluebird In Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a quick post this morning highlighting a young Eastern Bluebird photographed while foraging on the ground in my friend Steve Creek's yard in Arkansas.","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 the ground, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/eastern-bluebird-young-mia-mcpherson-1570.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/eastern-bluebird-young-mia-mcpherson-1570.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/eastern-bluebird-young-mia-mcpherson-1570.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/eastern-bluebird-young-mia-mcpherson-1570.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":134720,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/09\/17\/hatch-year-eastern-bluebird-at-a-birdbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":129969,"position":4},"title":"Hatch Year Eastern Bluebird At A Birdbath","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been quite the spring and summer for me. Part of the reason is seeing three broods of bluebirds. This hatch-year Eastern Bluebird might be one of them.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hatch year Eastern Bluebird male at a birdbath, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-bluebird-hatch-year-birdbath-mia-mcpherson-C1488.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-hatch-year-birdbath-mia-mcpherson-C1488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-bluebird-hatch-year-birdbath-mia-mcpherson-C1488.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-bluebird-hatch-year-birdbath-mia-mcpherson-C1488.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":146522,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/24\/eastern-bluebird-chick-growing-fast\/","url_meta":{"origin":129969,"position":5},"title":"Eastern Bluebird Chick – Growing Fast","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I'm sharing a photo of one of the Eastern Bluebird chicks that hatched here earlier this month. These bluebird chicks are growing fast.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eastern Bluebird chick waiting to be fed, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-bluebird-chick-mia-mcpherson-7606.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-bluebird-chick-mia-mcpherson-7606.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-bluebird-chick-mia-mcpherson-7606.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-bluebird-chick-mia-mcpherson-7606.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}