Wild Birds Unlimited Bird of the Month - Grosbeaks

Fun Facts about Rose-breasted and Evening Grosbeaks

• The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak shares incubation duties with the female and is known to even sing while sitting on the nest.
• The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is beneficial to farmers, consuming many potato beetles and weed seeds.
• The Rose-breasted Grosbeak will breed with the Black-headed Grosbeak in areas where their ranges overlap.
• Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are known for singing on moonlit nights, sometimes all night, but never very loudly.
• The nests of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are commonly parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird, possibly due to the singing done by both the male and female as they construct the nest.
• Rose-breasted Grosbeaks’ preferred feeder items are sunflower, safflower and peanuts.
• The nests of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are so thinly constructed that eggs often can be seen from below through the nest.
• The males of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak share equally in incubating eggs and feeding young, despite having a much showier plumage than their respective females.
• The Rose-breasted Grosbeak has unusual diets for birds with such a big seed eating beak. Throughout most of the year, over half of their diet is made up of insects. Their huge beaks allows them to eat large grasshoppers, crickets and other insects that have tough exoskeletons.
• Evening Grosbeaks like to eat wild cherries, but unlike other birds, they only eat the pits. After removing the fleshy fruit, they crush the slippery seeds with special pads in their “gross beak.”
• So favored are cherry pits that Evening Grosbeaks sometimes seek out the pits voided by American Robins.
• Evening Grosbeaks can break open seeds that require up to 125 pounds of pressure to crush.
• As with many finches whose diet is primarily vegetarian, Evening Grosbeaks are attracted to natural salt and mineral sources.
• The Evening Grosbeak is an irruptive migrant that makes irregular appearances at winter feeding stations throughout much of United States.
• The Evening Grosbeak was not commonly found east of the Rocky Mountains before the 1850’s. Winter irruptions now occur in all of the 48 contiguous states. This expansion may be attributed to widespread planting of box elder trees in landscapes across the east. Its seeds persist on the tree throughout the winter and provided flocks with a reliable source of food.
• The Evening Grosbeak was named in 1825 based on erroneous accounts that they became vocal and active only “at the approach of night.” This erroneous belief persisted for years, and the name is still a misnomer.
• Evening Grosbeaks seem to delight in snipping off the twigs of Sugar Maple trees and sipping the sweet sap.

Check out Wild Birds Unlimited rightbird Online Field Guide to read more about Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Evening Grosbeaks.  Hear their songs, see their ranges, and more.

Kids love factoids!  Why not share these cool grosbeak fun facts with the children in your life?

Comments

[The Zen Birdfeeder]

LNMP - lucky you to witness the nest. I'll keep my eyes open because they do nest in my area. Thanks for visiting!

[LNMP]

I once found a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak sitting on a nest at Vischers Ferry; the bird and its mate nearby were softly calling to each other. Eventually the male came to the nest and replaced the female on the eggs. I felt so privileged to see the interaction of these gorgeous birds.

[The Zen Birdfeeder]

Lori - our Rose-breasted Grosbeaks just returned here a few days ago. I'm lucky that they nest in my area. the black-headed would be a lifer for ME.
I can't take credit for all the Fun Facts; they are put together by the folks in the Wild Birds Unlimited franchise center. Pretty cool, huh?

[Lori]

your rose-breasted would be a lifer for me. I loved the facts - it seemed to me that would take a lot of time and I appreciate you doing it. I loved learning about the evening grosbeak as I saw my first ones this year. :) However, we do have black-headed over here... Makes me wonder what the combination creates with the rose and the black-headed... maybe I'll see a shot one day. (got my fingers crossed)

[The Zen Birdfeeder]

Larry - I hadn't seen my FOS Rose-breasted until today! Thanks much.
Mon@rch - they are pretty. I'm still waiting to see the male and his bright red breast!

[mon@rch]

Grosbeaks are such stunning birds! Great job with this post!

[Larry]

I've yet to see a Rose-breasted Grosbeak this year and I'm really ooking forward to it.-Nice photos and interesting facts too.