| Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus) |
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fact:An irruptive winter finch over much of North America. Prior to 1890, Evening
Grosbeaks were unknown east of the Great Lakes, whereas today they continue to expand
their breeding range throughout the East. Listen to a recording of a Evening Grosbeak from the Library of Natural Sounds: |
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Evening Grosbeaks are large, gregarious, nomadic finches that travel in raucous flocks. During the winter, Evening Grosbeaks are irregularly common, sometimes appearing in large flocks at feeders where they can devour copious amounts of sunflower seeds. Evening Grosbeaks are between 7 inches and 8.5 inches (18 to 21.5 cm) in length. They are stout-bodied birds with a short tail. They have a massive bill that is bone-colored in winter, slightly greenish-colored in spring. Description Male: Plumage characteristics make males virtually unmistakable. Their forehead and supercilium are bright yellow. The crown is black and tapers to brown on the nape and breast, which fades to yellow on the mantle and lower breast. The amount of yellow on mantle and breast is variable. Primaries, outer secondaries, and the short, notched tail are black. The tertials and inner secondaries are white. Female: The head, upperparts, and underparts are dull gray and brown, with hints of yellow and light green around the neck and nape. The primaries and secondaries are predominantly black, but the inner primaries and inner secondaries have a small white patch near the base. The uppertail coverts are predominantly black with white spots. The short, notched, black tail has much white at the tip. Evening Grosbeaks breed across Canada and south through parts of the western United States and Mexico in mixed conifer forests. They are an erratic migrant in winter; the occurrence of their flocks is unpredictable. There are 3 individual races of Evening Grosbeak. Coccothraustes vespertinus vespertinus breeds in central and eastern Canada; it winters south through Georgia. Coccothraustes v. brooksi breeds in western Canada and south through central Colorado; it winters south through Southern California. On average, Coccothraustes v. brooksi is darker than Coccothraustes v. vespertinus. Coccothraustes. v. montanus breeds throughout the southwestern United States and Mexico. Both C. v. vespertinus and C. v. brooksi are in the midst of a southern-range expansion. Recording credits: Copyright© 1998 Cornell Lab of Ornithology |
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