By Mickey Dunaway

Reprinted with Permission by Currents Magazine | APR 6, 2026| Cornelius, NC

Ever wonder why Valentine’s Day is in the middle of February—the most dreadful month of winter? Google tells me that Pope Gelasius I, in the late 5th century, designated this date to honor the Christian martyr St. Valentine, who was killed for secretly marrying couples. Not much romance there.

Really, the Pope would have been better served had he set April as the month to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day. Besides having better weather, it would have been a nice juxtaposition to Tax Day. Not the month of March. March weather is too iffy. Not a good symbol for romance.

But April—beautiful April— would have been the perfect month. The azaleas are beginning to bloom, trees are leafing out, and the birds are thinking about mating—especially the pair of bluebirds in our back yard. I believe we have had the same pair of blue lovebirds since I put up a bluebird house four years ago. 

Bluebirds love April, too. Early in the month, if not before, they will have built a nest of feathers, pine straw, and pieces of string or lint they can find. The Eastern Bluebirds remind me that winter is over for good because of the male’s bright blue plumage that can’t be missed, and where you see one brightly plumed bluebird, look for his mate; she will be close because Eastern Bluebirds mate for life.

The female may not be as brightly colored, but she is clearly the matriarch. She works at least as hard as her mate to set up the nest and sit on the three or four eggs she will lay when she is sure it is warm enough for good. The male mate will work hard to feed his partner—strengthening their bond—while she sits on the eggs.

Sandy and I love to sit on our patio and watch our pair of lovers work their little feathers off every year to ensure their babies hatch and grow into fledglings who leave the nest. But before that event, mother and daddy bluebirds work even harder finding bugs and worms to feed their brood. We have a bird feeder in our yard, but blue birds don’t usually eat seeds. No. They work their feathered fannies off to find those bugs and worms.

As soon as Pop delivers a bug for the gaping beaks, Momma, who is sitting on the fence waiting, is right behind him with another. It is amazing to watch this laborious symphony of nature.

The parents continuously feed their young for 16-21 days, making trips every 15 minutes from dawn to dusk until the babies leave the nest.

If you have not installed a bluebird house in your backyard, make this the April you discover the pure joy of April love in the life of a monogamous pair of Eastern Bluebirds.

__________

Late at night when the wind is still, I’ll come flying through your door, 

And you’ll know what love is for. I am a bluebird, I’m a bluebird…

– Paul McCartney