Otto, This is pretty cool. I looked up the Eastern Bluebird account in Cornell's Birds of North America, and they are known to roost communally on "high, protected perches" and in cavities. Young, especially from late-summer broods are more likely to hang out with the parents over the winter, until they get aggressively chased away by the parents in spring. I didn't know any of that, so thanks for giving me an excuse to learn something about bluebirds! Cheers, Jason On Mon, Jan 8, 2018 at 9:28 PM, Otto Baun < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Otto here... > > Harland VT near the Lull's Brook. > > I saw 4-6 bluebirds roost in an old bluebird nesting box at dusk this > evening (around 4:30-4:45.) One flew in to the area, found a high perch, > and watched (puffed up from the cold) while 4 or 5 other B-birds flew into > the box over a 10-15 min span. After they all had entered, this bird > followed them into the box... > > Anthropomorphically, it almost looked like this was the "Flight Leader" > watching over his flock. > > I don't know much about winter roosting behavior, but it sure looked to me > like they were "snuggling in for the night..." > > The homeowner said she had noticed this for the last couple of > evenings... She didn't notice when they left in the morning... > > The area is fairly open with a small pond at the bottom. I didn't notice > a lot of sumac or wild rose; but, it looked like an area of early > succession plants. > > Personally, I was pretty psyched to see a bunch of bluebirds in the > middle of a deep, deep freeze in January. > > Any input on this sort of behavior would be appreciated. > > Thank, > > Otto Baun > > > To post messages, send e-mail to: [log in to unmask] > Set your e-mail application to PLAIN TEXT ONLY to post messages. > To contact the list owner: [log in to unmask] > To unsubscribe: E-mail this command to [log in to unmask] > UNSUBSCRIBE UV-Birders > To change your e-mail address: E-mail this command from your old address > to: [log in to unmask] CHANGE UV-Birders [new e-mail > address] > > Web based archives and subscription management are available at: > http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/Archives/uv-birders.html > -- Jason M. Hill, PhD Conservation Biologist Vermont Center for Ecostudies Twitter: Hill_JasonM <https://twitter.com/Hill_JasonM> http://vtecostudies.org/about-us/staff/jason-hill/ "The universe works on a math equation that never even ever really even ends in the end." -Isaac Brock To post messages, send e-mail to: [log in to unmask] Set your e-mail application to PLAIN TEXT ONLY to post messages. To contact the list owner: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe: E-mail this command to [log in to unmask] UNSUBSCRIBE UV-Birders To change your e-mail address: E-mail this command from your old address to: [log in to unmask] CHANGE UV-Birders [new e-mail address] Web based archives and subscription management are available at: http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/Archives/uv-birders.html