The Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) is a small thrush, approximately 15 cm (5.9 in) to 18 cm (7.1 in) in length.
Adult males are bright blue on top and on the throat with an orange breast and sides, a brownish patch on back, and a gray belly and undertail coverts. Adult females have a duller blue body, wings, and tail than the male, a gray throat, dull orange breast, and a gray belly and undertail coverts. Immature Western Bluebirds have duller colors than the adults, they also have spots on their chest and back.
They are sometimes confused with other bluebirds, however they can be distinguished without difficulty. The Western Bluebird has a blue (male) or gray (female) throat, the Eastern Bluebird has an orange throat, and the Mountain Bluebird lacks orange color anywhere on its body.
Read more about Western Bluebird: Similar Species
Famous quotes containing the words western and/or bluebird:
“It’s a queer sensation, this secret belief that one stands on the brink of the world’s greatest catastrophe. For it means the fall of Western Europe, as it fell in the fourth century. It recurs to me every November, and culminates every December. I have to get over it as I can, and hide, for fear of being sent to an asylum.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
“I’m always chasing rainbows,
Waiting to find a little bluebird in vain.”
—Joseph McCarthy (1885–1943)