ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK GALLERY
(Pheucticus ludovicianus)

eBird offers the following description of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak:  Breeding adult males are black and white with bright red triangle on breast. Females and nonbreeding males are brown above with two white wingbars. Underparts are whitish with fine dark streaks. Contrasty head pattern; dark crown and cheek contrast with pale eyebrow and throat. Thick, pale pinkish bill sets them apart from similar species. Visits feeders in spring and summer. Winters in Central and South America.

I saw my first Rose-breasted Grosbeak while visiting the Sabine Woods Sanctuary on April 27, 2020.  I was stationed at the eastern water feature, watching two Orchard Orioles bath and play in the water.  Suddenly the Rose-breasted Grosbeak appeared and in short order chased the orioles off so he could have the water to himself.  I was stunned by the beauty of this bird, and was able to take several photographs.  I hope you enjoy them!  If you are interested in details of my visit to Sabine Woods, see my blog here.

When the Rose-breasted Grosbeak first arrived, I could not see his red triangle. Sabine Woods, August 27, 2020.
The Rose-breasted Grosbeak then dropped down into the water. Sabine Woods, August 27, 2020.
When the Rose-breasted Grosbeak dropped down to the water, one Orchard Oriole fled, but one stood his ground. Sabine Woods, August 27, 2020.
The second Orchard Oriole required a tongue lashing before he too fled, leaving the Rose-breasted Grosbeak with the bath all to himself. Sabine Woods, August 27, 2020.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak taking a bath. Sabine Woods, August 27, 2020.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak “Cool Facts” From All About Birds…

  • In parts of the Great Plains, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak hybridizes with its close relative, the Black-headed Grosbeak. Hybrids can look like either parent species or be intermediate in pattern, with various combinations of pink, orange, and black. The two grosbeak species are most likely to hybridize in areas where both species are scarce.
  • Researchers used mounted specimens of male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks to explore aggressive behavior. Live male birds attacked the white rump and flanks of the models, suggesting that the white markings are more important than the red chest in stimulating aggression.
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeaks build such flimsy nests that eggs are often visible from below through the nest bottom.
  • The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak takes a turn incubating the eggs for several hours during the day, while the female incubates the rest of the day and all night long. Both sexes sing quietly to each other when they exchange places. The male sometimes sings his normal song at full volume from inside the nest.
  • This bird’s sweet, robin-like song has inspired many a bird watcher to pay tribute to it. A couple of early twentieth-century naturalists said it is “so entrancingly beautiful that words cannot describe it,” and “it has been compared with the finest efforts of the robin and… the Scarlet Tanager, but it is far superior to either.” Present-day bird watchers have variously suggested it sings like a robin that has had opera training, is drunk, refined, in a hurry, or unusually happy.
  • Two males share the record for the oldest Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Both birds were at least 12 years, 11 months old when recaptured and released during bnding operations. One was banded in 1972 in Vermont and found in the same state in 1984. The other was banded in Maryland in 1976, and recaptured in 1987 in the same state.