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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