Blue birds and Bluebirds

Today we did a little more studying about blue birds and bluebirds! That was the second Bird challenge on the Outdoor Hour. Actually it was Jays and Bluebirds, but I thought my title was catchy.

We were able to see bluebirds really well at the grandparents’ house this past weekend and today we read about them and added them to our nature journals. We didn’t find a lot of information about the bluebirds, but we do have to admit that they are really special and we wish they’d come visit us at our house. I had a hard time choosing which photo to post.

That photo was taken on Sunday at my parents’ place.

The other blue bird that we learned about was the Steller’s Jay. That is the Jay that frequents our house and chases the birds away from our feeders. We do like the Steller’s Jay because it really is a gorgeous bird, we just wish that it would learn to share. But since around this house, we sometimes have trouble with sharing, guess we shouldn’t complain about the Steller’s Jay.

Unfortunately, even though we’re regularly visited by the Steller’s Jay, we don’t have any photos of them. One of these days. If you’d like to see it, you can visit my favorite online field guide: Steller’s Jay @ enature.com

The kids illustrated these birds in their nature journals. Here are their illustrations.

Stellers Jay and Western Bluebird by JD Boy, age 6

Western Bluebird by Zippy, age 9

Steller’s Jay by Zippy, age 9

This bird study also included comparing beaks of different birds, which we did. The favorite two to compare were the hummingbird with the Steller’s Jay. Can’t say how much we’re enjoying the bird studies on the Outdoor Hour Challenges.