Good morning.

Yesterday morning before going to work (7:30am) I watched 7 Western
Bluebirds flitting about the yard. It was about 32 degrees (my valley is
about 10 degrees colder than nearby Spokane). Some still hadn't completely
lost the spotting on their breasts, others had adult plumage but I don't
know if they were parents, juveniles who had lost their juvenile plumage,
or totally unrelated birds. They were chasing each other furiously,
chattering away, and inspecting the bluebird houses I have up in the
immediate vicinity I have a couple about 50 ft from the house and one for
the nuthatches about 20 feet from my front door - they showed interest in
all of these. We have been having an Indian Summer with daytime
temperatures in the 70s. Is this slowing down the bluebirds' southward
migration? Are they checking out the houses as a place to keep warm at
night? Why are they chasing each other so aggressively? I know some of
these questions are probably unanswerable but maybe someone out there may
have experience with this type of behavior. If so, I would really
appreciate hearing from you.

Thanks.

Joanne Powell
jhpowell at snapwa.org
Reardan (Spokane) WA