With Global Big Day* approaching (and travel restricted), we arranged the back porch, kept the feeders stocked, and waited. With binoculars and bird guides as permanent fixtures, a glint of rosy-red in the backyard hedge announced the arrival of a new bird – the rose-breasted grosbeak. The official day was still a week away, and our hope was to actually add this heretofore unseen backyard visitor to our count.
These handsomely dressed males enjoy the sunflowers, safflowers and raw peanuts at feeders; consume a range of insects (including helping potato farms by eating harmful beetles and larvae); and feed on berries and fruits.
During breeding season, mated pairs are believed to be monogamous. They both contribute to nest construction, which is a loose arrangement of twigs and smaller material in the fork of tree. So loose, in fact, you can see the eggs from underneath. They share incubation, brooding and feeding; and males tend the young if the female begins a second nest.
The rose-breasted grosbeak is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Mexico, Central America and the northern regions of South America. They travel in the dark, and some make the journey across the Gulf of Mexico – in a single night!
Bird Bits
Fun Facts: Two male banded RBGs lived to an amazing age of (at least) 12 years and 11 months.
The song styles and singing abilities of this bird have been likened to a robin who has attended Juilliard School of Music.
Habitat: This bird prefers the woodlands of deciduous and coniferous forests near open fields with second-growth trees in the area. Their winter residences are in mid- to high-elevations up to 11,000 feet above sea level.
Conservation Note: For the last two decades, the rose-breasted grosbeak has arrived increasingly earlier to its breeding ranges in North America. Ornithologists say that this is possibly in response to climate change, and may cause difficulties finding proper nutrition.
The vulnerability for this species is “low-to-moderate” following a slow decline of approximately 35% over the past 50 years. Habitat loss as the biggest threat with 66% of their range lost at the southern North American edge. They appear to be adjusting northward on the continent.
Note: Alas, the RBG from our backyard neither made an appearance nor our checklist on the actual Big Day. However, some days are for citizen science; and others are simply for the joy of welcoming a new visitor!
*Global Big Day with The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is an annual event for birders around the global to virtually share checklists of birds they see in a 24-hour period. This year set world records with over 50,000 people worldwide identifying 6,479 species and submitting over 120,000 checklists.
ABOUT THIS SERIES:
“Birds of the Blue Ridge” showcases frequently seen and rare birds across the southern Appalachian region. For over three decades, Angela Minor has traveled with binoculars and field guides across the continental U.S., Alaska, the Caribbean, and seven European countries. She is a travel and nature freelance writer for several regional and national print magazines, and also created and authored the state park birding series for Bird Watcher’s Digest.
Read More by Angela Minor: BlueRidgeCountry.com/AngelaMinor
