Jan. 20, 2013 - Pine Grosbeaks
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Pine Grosbeaks are year-round residents in the boreal forests of Canada, Alaska, and the Rocky Mountains. Some winters, when food is hard to find, they move south into the northern United States. This seems to be one of those years because we are seeing lots of them in Minnesota. This is a male and the photo was taken in our yard.
Here’s a front view of the male Pine Grosbeak. I knew these birds were in our area but they weren’t coming to our feeders. After talking with several people who were attracting Pine Grosbeaks, I finally figured out that I needed to have a tray feeder and to present black oil sunflower seeds that were still in the shell. The same day I presented this option to them, I started seeing Pine Grosbeaks in our yard.
I read in Birds of North America that Pine Grosbeaks’ plumage can vary in color. That was clearly evident during a trip to the Sax-Zim bog area northwest of Duluth. Because this bird is mostly gray, I would guess it’s a female. But I’m confused by the red feathers on the head. It could be just a color variation. But it also could be a juvenile male starting to change to adult plumage. (Like many other bird species, juvenile males, in their first year, look like females and molt into adult male plumage before their second year.)
Ilkka
on January 21, 2013Lots of Pine Grosbeaks also here in S Finland this winter. Great photos, Earl!
Shawn
on January 20, 2013Interesting to the see the color variation side-by-side. My parents have hosted fairly large flocks of Pine Grosbeaks this winter and there has been one that is noticeably brighter red throughout than the other adult males. I know that Pine Grosbeaks can show coloration variance based on geography and feather wear, but I've also read that some fruit eating birds show individual color variation caused by the carotenoids in the fruits they eat. There have even been some experiments along these lines where birds were given diets of different foods and developed somewhat different plumage colors.