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Mountain Bluebird
Sialia currucoides
The Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) breeds across much of western Canada and the northwest United States. It winters in parts of the Great Basin and the American Southwest and Mexico. The male shown here was photographed in Beaverhead Co., Montana, in June, 2001, with a Canon EOS 3 and EF 600mm F/4 L lens and 1.4X extender on Fuji Velvia. This species nests in cavities such as old woodpecker holes, but will also use man-made nest boxes. This male was perched on a fence post near a nest box along the roadside. The female below, carrying food to another nest, was shot with the same equipment, but at a different location. This female was in Daggett Co., Utah, also in June, 2001. In some years wintering Mountain Bluebirds can show up in the Panhandle of Texas in large numbers. The next shot shows a male perched on a fence in the northwest Texas Panhandle, in Dallam Co., in February, 1997. That image was taken with a Canon T-90 and 500mm F/4.5 Sigma lens on Fuji Sensia.
The next 5 shots of male Mountain Bluebirds were taken at Red Rocks Lake N.W.R., Beaverhead Co., Montana, in June, 2007, with a Canon EOS 1D Mark III and EF 600mm F/4 L IS lens and 1.4X extender. The male shown here is carrying a grasshopper to a nest, while the next three shots show a male at the entrance to a man-made nest box.