Sialia sialis

Male has blue upperparts, red-orange throat, breast, and flanks, and white lower belly and undertail coverts. Female has blue-gray upperparts, a gray-brown wash across the back, sometimes a vague white eye-ring; the wings and tail are dull blue; and the underparts are paler orange than on male. Both sexes have a short, stout, black bill. Birds in winter are generally duller and more grayish. Juveniles are browner than are adults, with white streaking above and dusky spotting below, and have a white eye-ring. Length is around 7 inches (18 cm).

Breeding range extends from southern Saskatchewan east across southern Canada to Nova Scotia, and south to Nicaragua, the North American Gulf Coast, southern Florida, and Bermuda, and west to the western Great Plains; also southeastern Arizona. Winter range extends from the middle portions of the eastern United States south through the breeding range and western Cuba and also includes areas outside the breeding range in Texas and New Mexico.

Habitat includes forest edge, open woodland, and partly open situations with scattered trees, from coniferous or deciduous forest to riparian woodland, also pine woodland or savanna in the tropics. Nests are in natural cavities, old woodpecker holes, bird boxes, or similar sites, mostly 3-20 feet (1-6 meters) above ground.

Northward migrants arrive in northern breeding areas mostly in March-April but sometimes as early as late February. Southward migration occurs mainly from September-November. Nesting period varies with location and may begin as early as late February in some areas and extend into late summer. Clutch size is usually 4-5. Individual females in most areas produce 2 broods/year, sometimes 3, and very rarely 4. Incubation, mainly by the female, lasts 11-19 (generally around 14) days. Young are tended by both parents and leave the nest at 15-20 days. Male tends fledged young if female renests. Young of the first brood may help feed the second brood.