Western Bluebird
Sialia mexicana
Western Bluebird · San Diego · 6 March 2026
A Western Bluebird on a perch in a San Diego park, a bird of the oak woodlands and open ranchland of the West from British Columbia to Mexico. It hunts insects from a low perch over open ground, dropping on them, and a park with mown grass and scattered trees is exactly its country.
The blue throat is the tell against the Eastern Bluebird, which carries orange there instead; the two ranges barely overlap, but the throat colour is the fastest way to separate them where a photo could go either way. Despite the name, bluebirds are thrushes, close relatives of the American Robin, built the same way and hunting the same way, just considerably smaller and more blue.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
Every photograph comes with notes on what it is.
Selected
Favourite shots. Filter by subject, or .
Places
Everything, by where it was taken.
Species
Larger catalogue of photos organized by species of animal or plant.
Catalogue
Every photograph, newest first. Narrow it by period, place or species; the three work together.
Updates
Coming soon. Sign up at the bottom of the page for updates.