{"id":140483,"date":"2025-02-21T02:38:19","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T08:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=140483"},"modified":"2025-07-07T11:57:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T16:57:20","slug":"female-eastern-bluebird-eating-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/02\/21\/female-eastern-bluebird-eating-snow\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Eastern Bluebird Eating Snow"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the sleet, ice, and snow stopped falling two days ago, I was outside photographing birds when I took photos of this female Eastern Bluebird eating snow.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Eastern Bluebird eating snow in Arkansas \u2013 Canon R7, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 800, +1.7 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The birdbath was covered in snow, and the water beneath it was frozen solid, so the bluebird ate the snow to quench her thirst. A male Eastern Bluebird joined her, and they both \u201cdrank\u201d the snow.<\/p>\n

The bluebirds weren’t alone, I saw American Goldfinches and Dark-eyed Juncos \u2018drinking\u2019 the snow too.<\/p>\n

It never got above freezing that day, but the black birdbath absorbed enough heat from the sun to warm up a bit, melting some of the snow and ice as the day went on. The birds were happy!<\/p>\n

Yesterday was even colder when dawn broke, a low of 7\u00b0F, and it never warmed beyond 25\u00b0F. The black birdbath helped, melting the ice at the edges just enough for the birds to get a drink.<\/p>\n

The Eastern Bluebirds have apparently grown tired of the aggressive Northern Mockingbird and have begun to give as good as they’ve gotten from that mockingbird. They aren’t taking any guff from it now.<\/p>\n

Last year, when the bluebirds were nesting, they were pretty aggressive toward the mockingbird, and nesting time is getting close again.<\/p>\n

The Eastern Bluebirds<\/span><\/a> are scarfing down the mealworms we put out with absolute gusto. It was a treat to photograph them in the snow.<\/p>\n

The snow has mostly melted because it was sunny all day yesterday. Even though the temps were below freezing, the radiant warmth of the sun helped with that.<\/p>\n

Next week, it’s going to warm up again, and we might even see temps reaching 70\u00b0F. I’m ready for that!<\/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":"

When the sleet, ice, and snow stopped falling two days ago, I was outside photographing birds when I took photos of this female Eastern Bluebird eating snow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140480,"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":[4004,15008,14182,5933,4880,14096,4286,4070,13931,14095,4050,4328,15824,3844,4881,373,13966],"class_list":["post-140483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-eastern-bluebirds","category-sebastian-county","tag-adult","tag-bird-bath","tag-birdbath","tag-bluebird","tag-bluebirds","tag-eastern-bluebird","tag-eating","tag-female","tag-garden","tag-sialia-sialis","tag-snow","tag-snowy","tag-suburban","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-winter","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/eastern-bluebird-female-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-4165.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-AxR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":134720,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/09\/17\/hatch-year-eastern-bluebird-at-a-birdbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":140483,"position":0},"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":147718,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/06\/03\/eastern-bluebird-in-a-light-rain\/","url_meta":{"origin":140483,"position":1},"title":"Eastern Bluebird In A Light Rain","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Bad weather doesn\u2019t usually stop me from photographing birds and wildlife. This female Eastern Bluebird was photographed in a light rain recently.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Eastern Bluebird in a light rain, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-bluebird-wet-rain-mia-mcpherson-8494.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-bluebird-wet-rain-mia-mcpherson-8494.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-bluebird-wet-rain-mia-mcpherson-8494.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-bluebird-wet-rain-mia-mcpherson-8494.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":144243,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/11\/super-mom-eastern-bluebird-for-mothers-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":140483,"position":2},"title":"Super Mom Eastern Bluebird For Mother’s Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Since today is Mother's Day, I wanted to tell the story of this super mom Eastern Bluebird and all she has accomplished since the end of March.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Super female Eastern Bluebird, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-bluebird-female-mia-mcpherson-2115.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-female-mia-mcpherson-2115.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-bluebird-female-mia-mcpherson-2115.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/eastern-bluebird-female-mia-mcpherson-2115.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":130987,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/07\/21\/eastern-bluebird-images-near-the-birdbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":140483,"position":3},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/eastern-bluebird-immature-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-4512.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/eastern-bluebird-immature-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-4512.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":135305,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/06\/immature-eastern-bluebird-with-a-question-for-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":140483,"position":4},"title":"Immature Eastern Bluebird With A Question For Me","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this immature Eastern Bluebird three days ago, I imagined she had a question for me: \"Hey, it's October. When is it going to cool down?\"","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Eastern Bluebird at a birdbath, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/eastern-bluebird-immature-birdbath-mia-mcpherson-2680.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/eastern-bluebird-immature-birdbath-mia-mcpherson-2680.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/eastern-bluebird-immature-birdbath-mia-mcpherson-2680.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/eastern-bluebird-immature-birdbath-mia-mcpherson-2680.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137714,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/08\/male-eastern-bluebird-on-a-december-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":140483,"position":5},"title":"Male Eastern Bluebird On A December Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 8, 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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/eastern-bluebird-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-7034.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\/140483","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=140483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}