Mountain Bluebird Carrying Food, July 4, 1999, White Mountains, Arizona
This male Mountain Bluebird was surprised to find me trying to photograph the female on another tree. He waited just long enough for me to get this picture and then he was off to deliver the bug to the nest. Both the male and female bluebirds were bringing food to the nest. Once they saw me, they always approached the nest from inside the forest so I would not know the exact location of the nest site. It worked. I could see the dead pine tree with cavities they were going to, but they were so clever at how they approached the tree that I could not see which cavity they were using. This nest was at the edge of the pinyon-juniper forest where it met a small, dry grassland. The birds would hawk for insects from small stumps or short juniper bushes, then fly straight for the nearby nest just inside the forest.
This male Mountain Bluebird was surprised to find me trying to photograph the female on another tree. He waited just long enough for me to get this picture and then he was off to deliver the bug to the nest. Both the male and female bluebirds were bringing food to the nest. Once they saw me, they always approached the nest from inside the forest so I would not know the exact location of the nest site. It worked. I could see the dead pine tree with cavities they were going to, but they were so clever at how they approached the tree that I could not see which cavity they were using. This nest was at the edge of the pinyon-juniper forest where it met a small, dry grassland. The birds would hawk for insects from small stumps or short juniper bushes, then fly straight for the nearby nest just inside the forest.