World's Longest Bluebird

It’s wonderful having a digital camera handy to capture visual evidence of unusual sightings.  Without a clear photograph, no one would believe that I saw the World’s Longest Bluebird.  The Bluebird’s head is clearly visible at the top of the stump and there’s no mistaking the authenticity of the Bluebird wing tips and tail showing below.  I believe that this specimen tops the typical seven inch individual by at least a foot.  This was a remarkable creature to view.  I’m only sorry that I couldn’t get a picture of it in flight.

Bluebirds have been abundant this year.  I believe the resident birds have been joined by some returning from farther south.  Until today, none of them seemed to be unusually elongated.

I wouldn’t be surprised if a body of this length required a secondary posterior nerve cluster or brain to control its rear half.  Unfortunately, the position of the tree trunk makes it necessary to speculate on the proportions and positioning of body parts on what must obviously be a long, serpentine avian body. 

Further observation of this unusual specimen proved devastating to my long bird theory.  When the Bluebird finally took to the air, the two halves went in different directions.  Even though current evidence suggests that my earlier photo was in fact showing parts of two different birds, I’m not yet ready to abandon the idea that there may be a super long Bluebird at Blue Jay Barrens.  It’s entirely possible that there were two normal Bluebirds hidden from my sight and that these two birds flew just as my long bird slithered away down the tree trunk.  I’ll be keeping watch for stretched Bluebirds from now on.

A pair of normally proportioned Bluebirds has taken up residence in the hole that was earlier excavated by the Red-belliedWoodpecker.  It’ll be fun to have these birds nesting so close to the house.  I just wish I could turn the tree around a bit, so the nest hole would be visible from the window.