March 21, 2010-Winter Birds
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Northern Minnesota is at the southern edge of the year-round range for the Evening Grosbeak. We only occasionally see them in our yard so I was pleased that a friend of mine, who also lives in Itasca County, Minnesota, let me photograph the flock that visits his feeders in the winter. Notice the large bill on this bird; Grosbeak is an appropriate name. This photo, and the two that follow, show male birds. The female is also beautiful but she is less brightly colored.
Evening Grosbeaks eat a lot of seeds and their large bills allow them to break open almost any that they find. Apparently they are very fond of the seeds from the Box Elder tree. It produces a large crop of seeds that tend to stay on the tree during the winter when Evening Grosbeaks need them.
According to Birds of North America, Henry Schoolcraft originally gave the Evening Grosbeak its name because he erroneously thought it only sang in the evening. Its original Latin name was Fringilla vespertina, which means “finch of the evening”.
During the winter, they will leave their breeding territory if food is scarce. This is called irruptive behavior. They sometimes move long distances and have been recorded in all 48 of the lower United States.
Gray Jays are common in northeastern Minnesota and I found this one on the Lima Mountain Road which branches off from the Gunflint Trail.
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