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The Rose-breasted Grosbeak
For those of you in the north, citing the rose-breasted grosbeak may be common place during spring and summer. However, for the rest of us, it's a thrill to see this migrant as he only appears two times a year, and then for only a week to ten days.This beautiful bird (at least, we can describe the male this way)is a migrant, and returns to northern nesting sites from over-wintering grounds in Central and South America. Bird-watchers in the north have come to call the male grosbeak “cut-throat” due to the rosy-red patch on his breast.
The female, in stark contrast, is brown with a white stripe over each eye—-she looks like a large female house finch. Both genders are easily recognized by their bill, which is “large, and cone shaped.”
NestingThe furthest south that this wonderful bird will nest is northern Ohio, but most migrate much further north.The rose-breasted grosbeak prefers primary forests and thickets, but will nest in parks and gardens as well. The use of “edges” (meaning tress and/or hedges surrounded by wide open space) has resulted in the bird being relatively unaffected by human activity. The male rose-breasted grosbeak assists the female in nest site selection, which occurs in a wide variety of habitats, including deciduous, mixed, and coniferous woodlands, overgrown grasslands, gardens, parks and other residential-like areas. Built of grass, weed stems, straw sticks, twigs and even hair, the grosbeak nest is cup-shaped and though flimsy looking is usually quite sturdy. Sometimes, the nest bottom is so thinly constructed that the eggs can be seen from underneath. The eggs are a pale bluish-green and are speckled with dark spots. Clutch size ranges from one to five eggs, and typically, rose-breasted grosbeaks have only one clutch per season. It’s interesting to note that the male grosbeak will assist with the incubation of the eggs. He will account for about 1/3 of the time during the day—only the female incubates at night.
As many of you know, part of the appeal of birds is their almost human-like behavior. Female and male rose-breasted grosbeaks will quietly sing to each other as they swap incubation duties!
Attracting The Grosbeak
If you had the male rose-breasted grosbeak in your backyard, you likely had the female as well. Typically, males appear first followed a few days later by the female. In this way, the male will arrive in the northern nesting range first and thus, select and establish dominance in a territory. The male does not appear as “tough” as the female. You may have noticed this on your feeders. Males are easily spooked and run off by sparrows. The female, however, stands her ground. She will frequently “turn the table” and run off a series of house sparrows. Rose-breasted grosbeaks have a varied diet consuming insects, fruit, buds and of course seed including black oil and safflower. How do you attract them? Offer the following, preferably in a hopper feeder:
Remember, if you have no seed in your feeders, you will not have birds. You should feed year round, and this is especially true for those of you attracting migrants!
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