Pheucticus ludovicianus

Description

Adult males are black and white with a large triangle of red on their breast. They have a thick, pale bill. Females are streaked, and look like a large sparrow. They have a large “grosbeak” bill. They also have broad, white wing bars, a striped crown, and yellow wing linings.

Voice

The song is a passage of rising and falling notes; sounds like a “robin who has taken singing lessons.”

Habitat

They are found in deciduous woods, orchards, and thickets.

Diet

Rose-breasted grosbeaks eat insects, buds from flowers, seeds, and fruit.

Range

During the summer, rose-breasted grosbeaks can be found in the northeast, the Appalachian Mountain Range (down to Georgia) and westward towards the Dakotas down to Oklahoma.

Other Useful Information

The nests of rose-breasted grosbeaks are so thin, that it is easy to see the egg in the nest while standing beneath the nest. Males help with incubation, contributing about 1/3 of the time during the day (females incubate the eggs over night).

Similar Species

The purple finch (female) and the black-headed grosbeak.