Sialia currucoides
Silhouette: Richard Rich · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) is a migratory small thrush that is found in mountainous districts of western North America. It has a light underbelly and black eyes. Adult males have thin bills and are bright turquoise-blue and somewhat lighter underneath. Adult females have duller blue wings and tail, grey breast, grey crown, throat and back. In fresh fall plumage, the female's throat and breast are tinged with red-orange which is brownish near the flank, contrasting with white tail underparts. Their call is a thin 'few' while their song is a warbled high 'chur chur'. The mountain bluebird is the state bird of Idaho and Nevada. This bird is an omnivore and it can live 6 to 10 years in the wild. It eats spiders, grasshoppers, flies and other insects, and small fruits. The mountain bluebird is a relative of the eastern and western bluebirds.
The mountain bluebird was formally described in 1798 by the German ornithologist Johann Matthäus Bechstein and given the name Motacilla s. Sylvia currucoides. The specific epithet combines curruca, from Carl Linnaeus's binomial name Motacilla curruca for the lesser whitethroat with the Ancient Greek -oidēs meaning "resembling... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Badlands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Kluane National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 11 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 15 | Elk Island National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 16 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 18 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 20 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 21 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tracy Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Bluebird sighting in Yellowstone National Park on a given day, based on 2,661 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 14th most-seen of the 197 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Bluebird in Yellowstone National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November, the lowest month.
Between 4 and 7 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Bluebird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Mountain Bluebird sightings, Yellowstone National Park ranks 2nd at about 40%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Badlands National Park (United States, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Turdidae
The closest relatives of the Mountain Bluebird that you can see in Yellowstone National Park (family Turdidae, Thrushes) are American Robin (about 70%), Hermit Thrush (about 10%) and Townsend's Solitaire (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Bluebird is recorded against all the birds logged in Yellowstone National Park (2,661 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
