Black-headed Grosbeak
Encyclopedia
The Black-headed Grosbeak, Pheucticus melanocephalus, is a medium-size seed
-eating bird
in the same family as the Northern Cardinal
, the Cardinalidae. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the Rose-breasted Grosbeak
, P. ludovicianus, with which it hybridises on the Great Plains
.
The 19 cm long, 47 g weight Black-headed Grosbeak is a migratory bird
, with nesting grounds from southwestern British Columbia
, through the western half of the United States
, into central Mexico
. It occurs as an accidental further south in Central America
.
. The nest is in the shape of an open saucer, made of fine grass, rootlets twigs, bark and conifer needles. It is often lined with rootlets, hair, and fine plant material. The female lays 2–5 pale green, blue or grey eggs that are spotted with reddish and dark brown. The eggs are incubated by the male and female for 12–14 days. After the eggs have hatched the fledglings leave the nest in about 11 or 12 days, however they are unable to fly for another two weeks. The young are fed by both adults. The Black-headed Grosbeak's monogamy is under study, but pair bonds generally last for only one breeding season. They typically have one brood per season, though double broods have been documented in foothills of the Sacramento Valley in California.
The Grosbeak’s song is a rich warble that is similar to that of an American Robin
but more fluent, faster, softer, sweeter and mellow with rising and falling passages that make the song much longer than the Robin’s. The note is a sharp ik or eek. Both the male and female sing, but have different songs.
s, snails and insect
s. It is one of the few birds that can safely eat the poisonous monarch butterfly
. In their wintering grounds this grosbeak consumes many monarchs and many seeds. It will come to bird feeders for sunflower and other types of seed, and fruit.
, wintering in Mexico. In the Great Plains the range of the Black-headed Grosbeak and the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks overlap and have interbred somewhat. After the breeding season, they tend to seek out berry-rich areas. They migrate south early in the fall and return to the north late in the spring and have been known to do so in flocks.
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
-eating bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the same family as the Northern Cardinal
Northern Cardinal
The Northern Cardinal or Redbird or Common Cardinal is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis. It can be found in southern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Texas and south through Mexico...
, the Cardinalidae. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
The Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, is a large seed-eating songbird in the cardinal family . It breeds in cool-temperate North America, migrating to tropical America in winter.-Description:...
, P. ludovicianus, with which it hybridises on the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
.
The 19 cm long, 47 g weight Black-headed Grosbeak is a migratory bird
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
, with nesting grounds from southwestern British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, through the western half of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, into central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It occurs as an accidental further south in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
.
Description
The Black-headed Grosbeak's approximate length is 18–19 cm or 6½ to 7¾ inches; it is similar in size to a Common Starling. As per its name the male has a black head. It also has black wings and tail with prominent white patches. Its breast is dark to tawny orange in color. Its belly is yellow. The female has a brown head, neck and back with sparrow-like black streaks. She also has white streaks down the middle of her head, over her eyes and on her cheeks. Her breast is white and her wings and tail are greyish-brown with two white wing bars and yellowish wing edges.Habitat
The Black-headed Grosbeak prefers to live in deciduous and mixed wooded areas. It likes to be in areas where there are large trees as well as thick bushes, such as patches of broadleaved trees and shrubs within conifer forests, including streamside corridors, river bottoms, lakeshores, wetlands, and suburban areas. It also seems to avoid coniferous vegetation.Nesting
Females build nests among the dense foliage on an outer branch of tall broadleaved trees or shrubs, 3–35 feet above ground. They will occasionally build in dense shrubs such as blackberryBlackberry
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by any of several species in the Rubus genus of the Rosaceae family. The fruit is not a true berry; botanically it is termed an aggregate fruit, composed of small drupelets. The plants typically have biennial canes and perennial roots. Blackberries and...
. The nest is in the shape of an open saucer, made of fine grass, rootlets twigs, bark and conifer needles. It is often lined with rootlets, hair, and fine plant material. The female lays 2–5 pale green, blue or grey eggs that are spotted with reddish and dark brown. The eggs are incubated by the male and female for 12–14 days. After the eggs have hatched the fledglings leave the nest in about 11 or 12 days, however they are unable to fly for another two weeks. The young are fed by both adults. The Black-headed Grosbeak's monogamy is under study, but pair bonds generally last for only one breeding season. They typically have one brood per season, though double broods have been documented in foothills of the Sacramento Valley in California.
Voice
American Robin
The American Robin or North American Robin is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the flycatcher family...
but more fluent, faster, softer, sweeter and mellow with rising and falling passages that make the song much longer than the Robin’s. The note is a sharp ik or eek. Both the male and female sing, but have different songs.
Diet
The Black-headed Grosbeak eats pine and other seeds, berries and insects, spiders and fruit. During the summer months it mostly eats spiderSpider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s, snails and insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s. It is one of the few birds that can safely eat the poisonous monarch butterfly
Monarch butterfly
The Monarch butterfly is a milkweed butterfly , in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer...
. In their wintering grounds this grosbeak consumes many monarchs and many seeds. It will come to bird feeders for sunflower and other types of seed, and fruit.
Range and migration
Black-headed Grosbeaks range from the Pacific coast to the middle of the US Great Plains and from south western Canada to the mountains of Mexico. US and Canadian are highly migratoryBird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
, wintering in Mexico. In the Great Plains the range of the Black-headed Grosbeak and the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks overlap and have interbred somewhat. After the breeding season, they tend to seek out berry-rich areas. They migrate south early in the fall and return to the north late in the spring and have been known to do so in flocks.
Behavior
Black-headed Grosbeaks frequently sing from prominent perches. Both the male and female sing, but have different songs, and both are known to sing from the nest while incubating. When trying to court a female, males fly with their wings and tails spread. They forage in the foliage, on the ground or in low vegetation and are prominent berry eaters.External links
- Black-headed Grosbeak - Pheucticus melanocephalus - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Black-headed Grosbeak Information - South Dakota Birds and Birding
- Black-headed Grosbeak Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Black-headed Grosbeak videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- CBC Article - CBC news article regarding the spotting of the bird.
Further reading
- Hill, G. E. 1995. Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus). In The Birds of North America, No. 143 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C.