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Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus ludovicianus
Family: Cardinalidae (Grosbeaks & Buntings)
Description: Males have a black head and back, rose-red chest triangle, white rump and wing patches with pinkish to redish underwings. The female is smaller than the male. Her coloration is soft brown with a streaked eye stripe with soft yellow underwings. Both have white wing-bars and a massive heavy bill with a sharp cutting edge at the base for seed cutting. As with most birds, the markings will be less pronounced during winter molting and coloration will vary with the bird age, gender (male or female) and lineage (some birds may be hybrids or mating of two species).

In the spring, the males will arrive first. Males will fight each other for the females as they arrive - sometimes even drawing blood with their powerful beaks, sometimes with half a dozen males battling for one stoic (or seemingly indifferent) female.

Nesting: The nest is a rather frail loose shallow cup of twigs and grasses high in tree branches. Sometimes the nesting construction is so loose, that the eggs can be seen from underneath. The natural survival behavior you'd expect is for the more camouflaged parent of the bird pair to silently incubate the eggs. But if your parents are the Rose-breasted Grosbeak pair, not only do both parents (even the flashy-feathered father) incubate the eggs, but both sing while they're sitting on the eggs! They produce one, sometimes two broods of about 3 - 6 eggs. Ordinarily, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak will not accept a birdhouse. Perhaps it isn't breezy enough.

Range: (May - October) Males will arrive in New York in the first week of May.

Populations have declined since the early 1980's due to nesting habitat loss from decreased forest understory. This is a consequence of housing developments and yard clear-cutting which has either reduced or fragmented their nesting/breeding areas.
printable field guide compliments of www.neotropicalbirds.org

Size: 8 inches

Diet: Insects, fruit, seeds.

Habitat: Forest understory of moist, open deciduous woodlands, parks, thickets, swamps, old orchards, or any shrub or tree that provides shelter.

Breeding Song: Both males and females sing. Melodious deep whistled warbling, "toodle loo, tweedle leet ta do."

Call: Alarm call sharp metallic "Feek"
© 2003 by Trust for Wildlife. Developed with Knowledge Environments, Inc.