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
>
>
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-- 
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
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