The Mountain Bluebird is an early migrant to our area, arriving in mid to late March. There have been a few sightings in the countryside recently, and one was reported in the Tuscany subdivision on March 25. In Calgary, you might see them in Weaselhead, North Glenmore Park, Fish Creek Provincial Park or Nose Hill Park.
Read more about this beautiful bird and report any sightings on the Weaselhead Society website.
See also:
Photo courtesy of fotopedia.com
I am curious, I was thinking about building a birdhouse for Mountain Bluebirds in my yard, I live in Lakeview. Would you suggest this, is there much chance to get a pair for the breeding season?
Mountain Bluebirds do commonly breed in houses put up on bluebird trails all over southern and central Alberta, but it is tricky to get them in the city. The problem is House Sparrows, which aggressively take over most available nest boxes. (To a lesser extent, so do Tree Swallows.) House Sparrows are common around buildings but are rarely seen in open rural area, so bluebirds do well outside the city. However, there are certainly parts of Lakeview which are quite secluded and border on open areas at the edge of the city, so it’s worth a try. Make sure to put up the right size of box with the right size of hole, and you might try putting up several boxes. If the habitat there is right, you might get bluebirds.
There is a lot of information on bleubird boxes on the internet. Here is good site: http://www.bluebirdsforever.com/houses.html
Good luck!