BirdBrain Academy

Thrushes · Turdidae

Eastern Bluebird sounds

Sialia sialis

A small North American migratory thrush, the Eastern Bluebird favors open woodlands, farmlands, and orchards.

Learn bird sounds freeMore Eastern Bluebird recordings
Eastern Bluebird
Photo: Sandysphotos2009, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Listen to the Eastern Bluebird

Each recording below is a short excerpt with its spectrogram, a picture of the sound. Time runs left to right and higher pitches sit higher up. Play each one, then look for the same shape in the next. Different recordings of the same bird help you learn the bird, not one clip.

Call, Song · recording 1 Spectrogram of a Eastern Bluebird call, song: time runs left to right and pitch rises upward

Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma, Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve, Dakota, Minnesota, 2014-05-25. XC179669 on xeno-canto, CC BY-SA 4.0. Five-second excerpt.

Begging Call · recording 2 Spectrogram of a Eastern Bluebird begging call: time runs left to right and pitch rises upward

Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma, Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, 2012-04-30. XC100032 on xeno-canto, CC BY-SA 3.0. Five-second excerpt.

Call, Song · recording 3 Spectrogram of a Eastern Bluebird call, song: time runs left to right and pitch rises upward

Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma, Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve, Dakota, Minnesota, 2014-05-25. XC179669 on xeno-canto, CC BY-SA 4.0. Five-second excerpt.

What to listen for

The male gives sometimes soft warbles, and its song is described as melodious. Near predators, males give a song-like warning cry, while both sexes may warble.

Many listeners write its call as “jeew”. Treat a written sound as a memory aid; individual birds and regions vary.

What it looks like

Eastern Bluebirds measure 16–21 cm long, with a 25–32 cm wingspan. Males have bright blue head, back, and wings with a brownish red breast; females are grayer with blue on the wings and tail and a lighter orange breast.

Where to find it

The Eastern Bluebird lives in open country around trees, with little understory and sparse ground cover, including pastures, agricultural fields, suburban parks, backyards, and golf courses. They are social and may gather in flocks of over a hundred, but become territorial during breeding season and may defend feeding areas in winter.

BirdBrain regions that include this bird

  • Central America
  • Eastern Canada
  • Florida
  • Great Lakes
  • Mexico
  • Mid-Atlantic
  • New England
  • Plains
  • Polynesia
  • Rocky Mountains
  • Southeast
  • Southwest
  • Texas
  • Western Canada

Did you know?

  • The Eastern Bluebird is the state bird of Missouri and New York.
  • Some Eastern Bluebirds gather in flocks of over a hundred.
  • An isolated Bermuda subspecies has brighter blue coloration than mainland populations.

Learn the Eastern Bluebird by ear

BirdBrain Academy teaches bird sounds with side-by-side listening and quizzes that use different recordings, so you learn the bird rather than one clip. Start with six free lessons, no signup needed. On your phone, Sound ID can name the birds singing around you.

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Related birds

Species notes are adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and checked for BirdBrain. Recordings come from xeno-canto under the licenses shown with each one. Photo: Sandysphotos2009, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Identification guidance is educational; birds vary, so confirm unusual sightings with local experts or eBird.