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Bluebirds Aren’t Blue?

Small, round thrushes, eastern bluebirds are a symbol of happiness and cheer really are a delight to see; but are bluebirds really blue?

  For decades, scientists have known how birds with yellow or red feathers usually get their color: from pigments in foods they eat.  But it was a real challenge to figure out exactly how birds with blue tints get their color.  It wasn’t their diet, because blue pigments, like those in blueberries, are destroyed when birds digest them.

W. Brooks Paternotte took the helm of Irvine Nature Center as executive director in July 2013 and immediately began building on the strong 35-year foundation. Brooks is a Baltimore native who was a teacher, coach, advisor, dean and Head of the Middle School during his 13 years at Boys’ Latin School in Baltimore. He is also an instructor and ambassador of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and is a Leave No Trace Master, as well as an avid outdoorsman and a features writer for FlyLife Magazine.
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