WILDLIFE DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Sialia mexicana | Western Bluebird 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
The breeding range of western bluebird extends from southern British
Columbia, western and south-central Montana south through the mountains
to northern Baja California, Michoacan, Puebla, and central Veracruz,
Mexico [1].

Ranges of subspecies are as follows [1,8]:

The chestnut-backed bluebird breeds from southern Nevada, central Utah,
and Colorado south through the mountains to west-central and
southeastern Arizona, northern Chihuahua, and western Texas.  It winters
throughout the breeding range at lower elevations, wandering to
southeastern California, eastern Sonora, and central Texas.

The western bluebird (ssp. occidentalis) breeds from southern British
Columbia, western and central Montana, south through eastern Oregon,
northern Idaho, northwestern Wyoming, and through the mountains to
southern California and western Nevada.  It winters mostly within its
breeding range at lower elevations, wandering to southern California
including Santa Catalina and San Clemente islands.

The San Pedro bluebird is resident in northern Baja California,
wandering in winter to lower altitudes and to the coastal islands.

Western bluebirds have been reported as winter residents in Vancouver,
British Columbia [57].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir-spruce
FRES24 Hemlock-Sitka spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES27 Redwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES31 Shinnery
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon-juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows


STATES : 


    
AZ
    
CA
    
CO
    
ID
    
MT
    
NV
    
NM
    
OR
    
TX
    
UT


    
WA
    
WY
    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    







    
BC
    






    
MEXICO
    




BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    3  Southern Pacific Border
    4  Sierra Mountains
    5  Columbia Plateau
    6  Upper Basin and Range
    7  Lower Basin and Range
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   10  Wyoming Basin
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   12  Colorado Plateau


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K001  Spruce-cedar-hemlock forest
   K002  Cedar-hemlock-Douglas-fir forest
   K003  Silver fir-Douglas-fir forest
   K004  Fir-hemlock forest
   K005  Mixed conifer forest
   K007  Red fir forest
   K008  Lodgepole pine-subalpine forest
   K009  Pine-cypress forest
   K010  Ponderosa shrub forest
   K011  Western ponderosa forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K013  Cedar-hemlock-pine forest
   K014  Grand fir-Douglas-fir forest
   K015  Western spruce-fir forest
   K016  Eastern ponderosa forest
   K018  Pine-Douglas-fir forest
   K019  Arizona pine forest 
   K020  Spruce-fir-Douglas-fir forest
   K021  Southwestern spruce-fir forest
   K022  Great Basin pine forest
   K023  Juniper-pinyon woodland
   K024  Juniper steppe woodland
   K026  Oregon oakwoods
   K027  Mesquite bosque
   K028  Mosaic of K002 and K026
   K029  California mixed evergreen forest
   K031  Oak-juniper woodlands
   K032  Transition between K031 and K037
   K033  Chaparral
   K038  Great Basin sagebrush
   K055  Sagebrush steppe
   K060  Mesquite savanna
   K061  Mesquite-acacia savanna
   K062  Mesquite-live oak savanna
   K071  Shinnery
   K086  Juniper-oak savanna
   K087  Mesquite-oak savanna


SAF COVER TYPES : 
    66  Ashe juniper-redberry (Pinchot) juniper
    68  Mesquite
   201  White spruce
   202  White spruce-paper birch
   203  Balsam poplar
   204  Black spruce
   205  Mountain hemlock
   206  Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir
   207  Red fir
   208  Whitebark pine
   209  Bristlecone pine
   210  Interior Douglas-fir
   211  White fir
   212  Western larch
   213  Grand fir
   215  Western white pine
   216  Blue spruce
   217  Aspen
   218  Lodgepole pine
   219  Limber pine
   220  Rocky Mountain juniper
   221  Red alder
   223  Sitka spruce
   224  Western hemlock
   225  Western hemlock-Sitka spruce
   226  Coastal true fir-hemlock
   227  Western redcedar-western hemlock
   228  Western redcedar
   229  Pacific Douglas-fir
   230  Douglas-fir-western hemlock
   231  Port-Orford-cedar
   232  Redwood
   233  Oregon white oak
   234  Douglas-fir-tanoak-Pacific madrone
   237  Interior ponderosa pine
   238  Western juniper
   239  Pinyon-juniper
   240  Arizona cypress
   241  Western live oak
   242  Mesquite
   243  Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
   244  Pacific ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir
   245  Pacific ponderosa pine
   246  California black oak
   247  Jeffrey pine
   248  Knobcone pine
   249  Canyon live oak
   250  Blue oak-foothills pine
   251  White spruce-aspen
   252  Paper birch
   253  Black spruce-white spruce
   254  Black spruce-paper birch
   256  California mixed subalpine


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
   107  Western juniper/big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass
   109  Ponderosa pine shrubland
   110  Ponderosa pine-grassland
   201  Blue oak woodland
   202  Coast live oak woodland
   207  Scrub oak mixed chaparral
   208  Ceanothus mixed chaparral
   208  Ceanothus mixed chaparral
   314  Big sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
   315  Big sagebrush-Idaho fescue
   316  Big sagebrush-rough fescue
   409  Tall forb
   411  Aspen woodland
   412  Juniper-pinyon woodland
   413  Gambel oak
   503  Arizona chaparral
   504  Juniper-pinyon pine woodland
   509  Transition between oak-juniper woodland and mahogany-oak association
   718  Mesquite-grama
   729  Mesquite
   733  Juniper-oak
   734  Mesquite-oak


PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Western bluebirds exhibit a strong preference for ponderosa pine (Pinus
ponderosa) communities [43].  In Montana western bluebirds occur in the
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)-ponderosa pine zone and the cedar
(Thuja spp.)-hemlock (Tsuga spp.)-spruce (Picea spp.)-grand fir (Abies
grandis) zones [26].  In Rocky Mountain, Sierran, and Madrean conifer
forests, western bluebirds occur in montane meadow grasslands, usually
over 8,580 feet (2,600 m) elevation.  They are not usually found in
subalpine communities [13].

In central and southern Utah western bluebirds are uncommon summer
residents of ponderosa pine, aspen (Populus spp.), and Gambel oak
(Quercus gambelii) woodlands [29].

In Oregon and Washington western bluebirds' primary habitat is in low to
mid-elevation conifer and conifer-hardwood forests [28].  In Washington
western bluebirds occurred on a study site in a ponderosa pine-Oregon
white oak (Quercus garryana) woodland and in big sagebrush (Artemisia
tridentata)/bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicatum)-cheatgrass
(Bromus tectorum)-rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseous)
communities ranging from 2,325 to 6,320 feet (705-915 m) elevation [33].

In California western bluebirds are characteristic of oak (Quercus spp.)
woodlands from 198 to 3,465 feet (60-1,050 m) elevation [14].  In El
Paso County, Arizona, western bluebirds breed mainly in the yellow pine
region from 7,000 to 8,000 feet (2,134-2,438 m) [8].

Western bluebirds winter in pinyon (Pinus spp.)-juniper (Juniperus
spp.) woodlands in north-central Arizona.  They are numerous in some
years but not in others, depending on weather and juniper cone crops [6].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Sialia mexicana | Western Bluebird