Young Pine Grossbeaks?

[Todd Caswell]

Iv'e had a pile of these the last couple days at the feeder, they look like young of the year pine gross beaks to me. If so I wonder why there are no adult birds with them??

[Jim Almquist]

That is just a female Pine Grosbeak. The males are mostly red.

[brushwolf]

I love all the grosbeaks..primarily because is see them so rarely..usually when I am deerhunting..always a treat to watch,

[Todd Caswell]

Had some males at the feeder today now if we only had some sun, what a dreary month. Hopefully these guys will hang around, have never had them before and today I counted over 30 in the tree when I got home..

[Jim Almquist]

It seems like there is a mini-invasion this year. My guess is the drought made something in short supply that they like to eat. It s our bonus!!!

[ShawnZ]

It's an oversimplification to say that these are female birds just because they are not the pink/red of the adult males. Pine grosbeak males can take a couple of years to develop the "classic" adult male appearance. It is often difficult to seperate young males from female birds. Close inspection is required. The more you observe, the more variation you will see. Some of my favorite males are one's that are just beginning to show pinkish plumage in the tail rump and scapular areas, with a blush on the head plumage too. Anectdotally, I find that adult males are typically outnumbered by young bird/females. I observed a single flock of approximately 60 pine grosbeaks earlier this year, and of that flock, only 5-to 8 birds were clear adult males. On multiple days this year, I have observed over 100+ pine grosbeaks within Duluth city limits and experienced the same thing...young bird/females, outnumber the adult males. It has been a fantastic year for close observation of this species in the duluth area.