Not surprisingly , a number of bird species call the huge state of matter of California rest home . Some of these species are periodic visitant , but many of them subsist there for good . These diverse specie , which admit the salient Indigo Bunting and the vivacious Western Bluebird , tally a splash of colouration to the Californian landscape painting with their unparalleled characteristics and habitats .
This article will look at and allow for information on each of the 17 metal money of blasphemous birds that are found in California .
Different Types of Blue Birds in California
Western Bluebird
With its striking vividness and distinctive nesting conduct , the Western Bluebird ( Sialia mexicana ) is the most prevalent species of fairy bluebird in California . Males have a reddish - orange chest and a deep blue head and back , while females and juvenile are more softened , with gray - brown upperparts and a light gray bottom . These birds compete with House Sparrows and European Starlings for the nest holes and nest boxes that they use .
Even though their numbers declined in the latter part of the 20th century , nest box preservation initiatives have grant them to repopulate , and now they may be seen all year around throughout the Golden State .
Lazuli Bunting
Lazuli Buntings ( Passerina amoena ) are beautiful songster found in the western USA . They breed in summer in northern California . Male adults have a wan blue cervix , keister , and hood . They also have dark grizzly wing with a white wingbar , a chestnut orange white meat , and a livid belly . The buff - brown females have a pale blue rump and black wing .
During the breeding season , which runs from May to August in northerly California , these bunting can be found there before their winter migration to Mexico . They are a salient lot in the warm months , with their vivid chromaticity and seasonal front .
Indigo Bunting
A little songster with heart - catching colors is the Indigo Bunting ( Passerina cyanea ) . male in June are almost whole indigo plant blue , with darker brown empennage feather and wingtips . With pallid dark-brown upperparts and creamy blank underparts , female and nipper are less noticeable . Only in the southeast of the state , in park , garden , and timber border , can one spot this rare bird in California .
Particularly in the spring , it frequents bird feeders that provide seminal fluid . The males sing from their perches in the trees during breeding time of year . Only present in California during the summer , the Indigo Bunting is rigorously migratory , spending the winter in Central and South America before departing in flyspeck flocks in the fall .
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
With its long behind , the Blue - gray Gnatcatcher ( Polioptila caerulea ) is similar to a warbler . Male adults have light gray underparts and a black buns with a white edge . Their upperparts are blue - grey . skirt that are female or young have a whiteeyering and are gray top and light Thomas Gray below . In temperate North America , this boo breeds from early May through August .
A portion of its population migrates ; whereas northerly denizen expend the winter in the southerly United States and Central America , populations from the SE dwell there year - round . The Blue - grey Gnatcatcher is a unique and lovely mountain , easily distinguish by its prospicient quarter , which is frequently cocked upwardly .
Barn Swallow
The barn drink ( Hirundo rustica ) is acommon bird in many different environmentsfound in North America south of the Arctic Circle . Its underbelly is reddish - orangish , with a chestnut orange forehead and pharynx and a pale reddish - Orange River belly ; its iridescent upperparts glisten moody blueing in the sunlight . A crucial characteristic that sets them aside is their deeply forked tail , even though young deglutition have duller feathers and poor , less forked tails .
Barn Swallows have been know to draw close in empty Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and caves , but these day they choose barns , bridge , and structures . They are common in California , but as their foraging and gentility grounds melt , so does their universe . They pass the winter in Central and South America , feeding on fly insects .
Purple Martin
Male Purple Martins ( Progne subis ) have iridescent dark violet - blue plumage with black wing and tails , shit them the largest martinspecies in North America . Juveniles and females have beige - white-hot underparts and a scant grey upper dead body . Interestingly , the only martin coinage lack a scant - colored belly is the male Purple Martin . They used to nest in tree cavities , but these day they favour unreal environments and frequently forge colonies with several hundred twosome .
Expert hunter from the air , their main repast isdragonflies , which they obtain by skimming the surface of the water while in flight . They transmigrate , drop the winter in South America , where they congregate in enormous roosts . Place a Purple Martin home in your yard to draw them in .
Mountain Bluebird
live in alpine areas , the Mountain Bluebird ( Sialia currucoides ) and Western Bluebird sometimes cross path . Male adults are unmistakably bright blue in color , with a pale emollient belly and a darker back and knocker . The female person have weak blue feathers on their fender and rump , and they are buff grey-headed in color . Nesting year - rhythm in the northerly region of the nation , they are the only amply blue hiss discover in California .
They go about in the winter and perhaps visit feeders that provide mealworm or Chuck Berry . It take several boxes to take out in Mountain Bluebirds because they are apprehensive about being replaced by more combative avian species .
California Scrub-Jay
Formerly classified as a subspecies of the Western Scrub - Jay ( Aphelocoma californica ) , the California Scrub - Jay was identify as a disjoined species in 2016 and was severalise from the inland Woodhouse ’s Scrub - Jay . This jay is the most unwashed in California , found mostly along the Pacific Coast and common everywhere but in the Mojave Desert .
Both sexes have a light hoary belly and dark grey shoulders , with an azure blue upper head , wings , and tail . Their throat is white with grey stripe , which contrasts with their juicy torso . They live all yr round in shrublands and moderately wooded area , so you could see them often in a variety of Californian surroundings .
Steller’s Jay
The medium - sized Steller ’s Jay ( Cyanocitta stelleri ) , which belong to the jay family , is easily identified by its eye - catching crown and dark blue dead body . While it is rarified in the more dry southern regions , such as the Mojave Desert , it is common in northern California . The head , nape , and upper back of both male and females are non-white hoary to blackish , while the remainder of the body is a dark navy blue racy color .
Within their upbringing territory , these John Jay live on year - round , although at times they will make abrupt pleasure trip southerly , showing up in places they would not normally be seen .
Pinyon Jay
Unlike other jay , the Pinyon Jay ( Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus ) is a vivid risque songster with a svelte bill and consistency . Males and females are light blue , with the stomach being whiter and the top dog being grim . In westerly California ’s rugged pinon - Genista raetam timber , this uncommon breeding wench experience . Since they live in colonies with scads of pairs for nesting , if you see one , there are probably many more nearby .
Depending on the season , pinyon Jay run through fruits , louse , and pine seeds . They have a noticeable presence in their habitat due to their remarkable colour and societal nesting pattern .
Belted Kingfisher
With its grayish - amobarbital sodium upperparts , the Belted Kingfisher ( Megaceryle alcyon ) conduct resemblance to Blue Jays ; yet it is often found near bodies of weewee . Male adults are nearly all teal racy above , with a white paunch , a greyish breast band , and a white collar that divides the roof from the soundbox . The flanks of females are rufous orange . Belted Kingfishers dive into the pee headlong to catch fish , and they prefer to live near lakes and river .
They live year - rung in southerly regions , including California , and are partly migrant . northerly inhabitants move around south during toilsome winters . This low - colored bird hardly ever locomote far from H2O to feed , mostly on pocket-sized Pisces .
Blue Grosbeak
The magnificent Blue Grosbeak ( Passerina caerulea ) is a songbird with a big , conical beak . manly adults are almost altogether dark gamy , with black facial expression feather and two brown wingbars . Female underparts are pale , and they are brown - grey-haired . Although it breeds in southern California , this grosbeak spends the winter in Central America .
Its preferred home ground are grasslands and shrublands , with raft of Bush scattered throughout . During its breeding time of year in California , the Blue Grosbeak is easy recognized due to its unique wingbars and distinctive male coloring .
Great Blue Heron
With a 6 - foot wingspan , the Great Blue Heron ( Ardea herodias ) is one of the most abundant herons in California . It can be observed year - round . With a white throat , heart stripe , and gloomy gray flank feathers , its coloring material is mostly blue - gray . This bird waits patiently to capture target with its farseeing , yellow bill as it jampack through the shallow piddle of lakes , marshes , and ponds in search of small fish and aquatic creatures .
It also searches grassy place , golf courses , and meadows for rodent to eat . It is a year - round resident physician of California and is not migratory ; however , it may relocate to the south if the state ’s northern waters freeze in the wintertime .
Little Blue Heron
While juveniles are all white during their first year of life and can be distinguish by their darkness , pointed bill and green legs , grownup Little Blue Herons ( Egretta caerulea ) are slating juicy . Only a small , isolated population in the southernmost region of the state of California is abode to these tiny Heron , making them extremely uncommon there .
The Little Blue Herons of California are class - round residents , in demarcation to their migratory relative in the north . They eat crustaceans , shellfish , and tiny fish , with crayfish fix up a sizable portion of their dieting . They run in shallow waters and are rarely spotted outside of water , preferring to live in aquatic environments .
