Learn More About the Birds With the Big Beaks Going Ga-Ga for Grosbeaks

Learn MoreAbout the Birds

With the Big Beaks

Going Ga-Gafor Grosbeaks

• Rose-breasted and Black-headed Grosbeaks are in the same family as cardinals

• Evening Grosbeaks are in the finch family

Basic Grosbeak Facts

• Grosbeaks are slow-moving birds that are deliberate in their motions

• They show little fear of humans

• Both sexes of each species sing, and each has different songs


• Rose-breasted and Black-headed Grosbeaks will interbreed in areas where their ranges overlap

• Hybrids can look like either parent species, or be intermediate in pattern, with various combinations of pink, orange, and black.


• Grosbeak nests are loose, open cups of sticks, twigs, grasses, weed stems or straw that are lined with fine twigs, rootlets or hair

• Grosbeak nests are usually placed in trees, shrubs or vines


• Female grosbeaks do virtually all of the nest-building, but males share equally in incubating the eggs and feeding the young

• Grosbeak nests are so thinly constructed that eggs can often be seen from below through the nest


• Grosbeaks have unusual diets for birds with such large beaks

• For most of the year, over half of their diet is made up of insects

• Their huge beaks allow them to eat insects that have tough exoskeletons


• Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are relatively common throughout much of eastern and central North America

• They live in primary and secondary deciduous and mixed forests and thickets, and in parks and gardens

Rose-breastedGrosbeaks

• Rose-breasted Grosbeaks stay in Central and South America during winter

• Migrants begin to arrive in North America in mid-March to mid-April


• Males are black and white birds with large white wing patches and rosy spots beneath the wings that are visible in flight

• Females look like large, streaky-brown sparrows with big beaks


• Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are known for singing on moonlit nights, sometimes all night, but never very loudly

• Their voices are rich, whistled phrases that are often described as a “robin that’s taken singing lessons”


• Though their natural diet is made up mostly by insects, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks will also eat seeds and some fruits

• Their preferred feeder foods are sunflower, safflower and peanuts


• Rose-breasted Grosbeak nests are commonly parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird, possibly because of the singing done by both the male and female as they construct and sit on the nest


• Usually have between one and four pale green or blue eggs with reddish-brown blotches or specks

• They will incubate for 12 to 14 days, and nestlings usually leave between nine and 14 days from birth


• Black-headed Grosbeaks are relatively common throughout much of western North America

• They prefer to live in open, deciduous woodlands near water and in swampy places with a mixture of trees and shrubs

Black-headedGrosbeaks

• Black-headed Grosbeaks stay in Central and South America during winter; some can be found in these locations throughout the year

• Migrants begin to arrive in North America in April and May


• Black-headed Grosbeak males have cinnamon bodies and black wings with white wing patches

• Again, the females look like large, chunky sparrows


• Black-headed Grosbeaks’ musical phrases are similar to Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and are reminiscent of a robin


• Though their natural diet is made up mostly by insects, Black-headed Grosbeaks will also eat weed seeds and some fruits

• Their preferred feeder foods are sunflower seeds


• Black-headed Grosbeaks are monogamous through a single breeding and nesting season

• Black-headed Grosbeak females will sing a “male” song, making her mate believe that he hears a rival, forcing him to stay closer to the nest


• Usually have between two and five pale green-blue eggs with red-brown spots

• They will incubate for 12 to 14 days, and nestlings usually leave between nine and 14 days from birth


• Black-headed Grosbeaks are one of the few birds that can eat toxic Monarch Butterflies

• They discard the wings before eating the butterfly to reduce the amount of toxins they ingest


• Black-headed Grosbeaks, along with Black-backed Orioles are the primary avian predators of the over-winter populations of Monarch Butterflies found in Mexico


• Combined, they are responsible for more than 60% of Monarch mortality at many of the Mexican roosting sites


For more information about grosbeaks, visit our online field guide:

www.rightbird.com

WebResource

http://www.rightbird.com/

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Learn More About the Birds With the Big Beaks Going Ga-Ga for Grosbeaks