The most strikingly blue of the three North American bluebirds — the male is sky-blue all over, with no rust or orange.
They hover-hunt from a high perch like a kestrel, dropping straight down on grasshoppers in the grass below.
Mountain Bluebirds nest at the highest elevations of any bluebird, up to 12,000 ft in the Rockies.
They tolerate cold extremely well; some populations winter as far north as the Idaho highlands.
If you live in the open country of the West, Mountain Bluebirds may already pass through. A trail of widely-spaced boxes on fence posts can pull in a breeding pair.
Pole or fence-post mount 4–6 ft up, in fully open habitat (pasture, meadow, prairie). They prefer windswept open spots, not sheltered yards.
Mealworms in a tray during nesting season; otherwise they're insect specialists hunting hopper-rich grass.
They want open ground, not cover. A scattered fence line or single tree for a perch is enough.
Stock tanks, livestock troughs, or a yard birdbath all work — water is more limiting in their dry range.
Tree Swallows and House Wrens compete fiercely for boxes. Pair-mounted boxes 15 ft apart help.
Don't bother mounting boxes in dense suburbs or wooded yards — they're true open-country birds and won't show up.
A bird of the open intermountain West and the high Rockies, with a breeding range that swings up into the Yukon and central Alaska.
Breeds throughout — Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, eastern Oregon and Washington. Many descend to lower valleys for winter.
Winter flocks in Arizona, New Mexico, west Texas, and the southern California desert.
Reaches as far north as Yukon and central Alaska along the Tanana valley.
Some birds winter in the open ranchland of northern and central Mexico.
Open meadows, grasslands, mountain pastures, sagebrush flats, and burned forest. Far less tied to trees than Eastern or Western Bluebirds — they'll happily nest in a fence-post box on a treeless prairie.
Body sized to 5"×5" floor. The 1½" panel locks out larger nest competitors while letting the Mountain Bluebird pass cleanly.
See the full lineupLong-distance migrant; fully migratory. Mount boxes on fence posts in open meadow/sage.