{"id":152110,"date":"2025-08-10T04:59:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T09:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=152110"},"modified":"2025-08-10T05:06:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T10:06:29","slug":"messy-male-eastern-bluebird-post-nesting-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/08\/10\/messy-male-eastern-bluebird-post-nesting-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Messy Male Eastern Bluebird – Post Nesting Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is post nesting season, and the male Eastern Bluebird is looking a little messy from all the activity. He is still beautiful, but his feathers are worn.<\/p>\n

\"PostPost nesting season male Eastern Bluebird \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/800, ISO 1250, +0.3 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

By the time nesting season wraps up, a male Eastern Bluebird can look a little worse for wear. He has spent weeks on nonstop duty, defending his territory, chasing off rivals, courting his mate, delivering food to her while she incubates, and later helping feed those endlessly hungry chicks.<\/p>\n

It is a full-time job with no days off, and all that constant flying, looking for food to feed his chicks, and squeezing in and out of the nest box takes a toll.<\/p>\n

His once sleek feathers can end up frayed, dulled, and worn. It is the price he pays for being such a devoted dad, and by summer\u2019s end, he has earned every ragged feather.<\/p>\n

And not just for the last brood of chicks in the nesting season, but the whole season long.<\/p>\n

The Eastern Bluebird pairs are still looking after and bringing food to the last broods of chicks to fledge this year, but that is now slowing down too.<\/p>\n

Between now and October, the bluebirds here will go through their molt, trading those worn, tired feathers for fresh ones. Before long, they will be looking gorgeous again.<\/p>\n

I think the Eastern Bluebirds<\/span><\/a> look gorgeous now, even with their worn out feathers.<\/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":"

It is post nesting season, and the male Eastern Bluebird is looking a little messy from all the activity. He is still beautiful, but his feathers are worn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152107,"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":[4004,5933,4880,1996,14096,13981,13931,6022,2312,2313,4104,16651,10298,14095,15824,2315,3844,4881,2317,13966],"class_list":["post-152110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-eastern-bluebirds","category-sebastian-county","tag-adult","tag-bluebird","tag-bluebirds","tag-driftwood","tag-eastern-bluebird","tag-feeder","tag-garden","tag-messy","tag-molt","tag-molting","tag-perched","tag-post-nesting-season","tag-raggedy","tag-sialia-sialis","tag-suburban","tag-summer-3","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-worn","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/eastern-bluebird-ragged-mia-mcpherson-5997.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Dzo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":142048,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/27\/female-eastern-bluebird-is-busy-nest-building\/","url_meta":{"origin":152110,"position":0},"title":"Female Eastern Bluebird Is Busy Nest Building","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The female Eastern Bluebird here has been very busy the last three days, bringing in nesting materials by the beakful to place inside the nesting box.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Eastern Bluebird with nesting materials, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/eastern-bluebird-female-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/eastern-bluebird-female-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/eastern-bluebird-female-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/eastern-bluebird-female-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":151051,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/07\/29\/eastern-bluebird-nest-box-news-chicks-are-ready-to-fledge\/","url_meta":{"origin":152110,"position":1},"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, 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McPherson","date":"February 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Eastern Bluebird eating snow in Arkansas, Sebastian County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/eastern-bluebird-female-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-4165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/eastern-bluebird-female-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-4165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Autumn brings a warm glow to Arkansas, and this Eastern Bluebird on driftwood is a perfect reminder of the season\u2019s gentle transformation.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Autumn Eastern Bluebird male, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/eastern-bluebird-adult-male-autum-mia-mcpherson6328.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/eastern-bluebird-adult-male-autum-mia-mcpherson6328.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/eastern-bluebird-adult-male-autum-mia-mcpherson6328.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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