Life Out of The Nest

What are bluebirds again? Small thrushes. Nothing to do with blue jays.

I see the bluebird parents near the nest boxes all the time. They hunt for insects on the ground and feed them to the young in the box. But I almost never see the fledged birds. They never come back to the box. They head for the nearest trees. There they wait for the parents to bring some food at least for a few days on their own. Usually they have blue wings and tails, and a spotted gray chest somewhat like robins. Both are thrushes. The adult and the juvenile are shown below.

Young robin for comparison