It’s almost unfair to other birds, the way a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak has it all. He’s gorgeous, with his watermelon cravat against a white shirtfront, and his flashy black-and white wings. On top of that, he can out-sing almost everyone else in the woods.
Grosbeak song
His song is clear and melodic. He varies the tune constantly. He scarcely stops to breathe. The tone is rich, the effect almost operatic.
Song of Rose-breasted Grosbeak, recordist Diane Porter
Some birders say a Rose-breasted Grosbeak sounds like a robin who has taken singing lessons. And there is a resemblance, but the pattern is different.
Robin song
An American Robin has a smaller repertoire of phrases, and he often repeats himself. He sings short phrases. You can count a measured few syllables, and then he takes a beat. It creates a rhythm. Quite different from the grosbeak.
Song of American Robin, recordist Diane Porter
Male and female, how they dress
A female Rose-breasted Grosbeak wears muted tones of brown, beige, and white.
She does have one decoration but keeps it hidden except when she spreads her wings. Then she reveals “wingpits” that are yellow or sometimes almost orange.
If you went just by the colors, you might never realize that the male and the female were the same species. They do, however, have the same shape. Especially their bills.
The grosbeak is named for its spectacularly big bill. The GROSS BEAK. These birds have no trouble breaking open and eating the contents of sunflower and safflower seeds.
A male reaches up to feed his mate a sunflower seed that he just pulled from the red ball feeder. She gets seeds from that same feeder all the time and does not really need his help to obtain this particular morsel.
But he’s courting her and showing what a good provider he will be for the nest of baby birds they’re about to raise together.
They’re bonding, beak to beak.
Just had a rose-breasted hanging out on the window sill right next to my chair. He just kept looking in the window for almost 5 minutes (I suspect he saw his reflection)
Hi Diane. Loved this post. When I was a child in rural Alberta Canada, my mother, a bird lover (as am I, the apple did not fall far!), would put out feed and flocks of grosbeaks would visit, and we never got over the awe of their cheerful plumage. In our neck of the woods it was the Evening Grosbeak species that came to visit. We have recently moved to the Cowichan Valley of Vancouver Island, and the myriad species of birds here is awe inducing. Thank you again, from a fellow bird lover (wannabe ornithologist). Loved the photos. I have never seen a rose-breasted grosbeak IRL. I enjoyed these fellows vicariously.