The pine grosbeak is a common bird in Canada's boreal forests and the western mountains. This oversized finch adds color to the landscape.
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What Does a Pine Grosbeak Look Like?
As the cold settles in, backyards quiet down. But just when you think you’re familiar with all your winter feeder visitors, a flock of pine grosbeaks flies into town. These birds tend to be sweet and approachable, and they aren’t easily scared off by nearby humans. They’re so well-known for their slow, sluggish behavior that people in Newfoundland have nicknamed the birds “mopes.”
They’re easily spotted foraging for seeds, berries and buds in the winter. Compared to other northern finches, pine grosbeaks are on the larger side—about the size of an American robin. They have round chests, long tails and dark bills that are almost stubby. Males are quite colorful, sporting raspberry-hued heads and chests.
“In comparison, females are a dull yellow,” says Doug Tallamy, co-founder of Homegrown National Park and the author of Nature’s Best Hope. Juvenile males, like the females, have gray bodies and yellowish heads.
Pine grosbeaks are named for their stubby, thick bills, which they use to munch seeds and snip buds and needles off trees.
Learn about the types of grosbeaks backyard birders should know.
Nests and Eggs
“Pine grosbeaks are northern birds that, for the most part, breed in Canada,” Doug says. Although winter flocks of pine grosbeaks might grow to 30 or more members, breeding pairs are monogamous and solitary nesters.
A bonded pair will sometimes even have identical flight calls, which otherwise differ slightly among individual birds. The female pine grosbeak builds a cup-shaped nest about 6 to 16 feet above the ground and safely hidden in the dense foliage of an evergreen.
While she’s incubating the eggs (usually four in a clutch), her male partner feeds her. Then, when the young have hatched, both parents take on meal duty.
During the breeding season, the parents even develop a special throat pouch that they use to carry extra food back to the nest.
Get to know gorgeous blue grosbeaks.
What Do Pine Grosbeaks Eat?
Typically, pine grosbeaks reside in the boreal forests of Canada, Alaska and the high mountains of the West. Their strong, thick bills are perfect for snipping through tree buds, seeds and nuts. Pine grosbeaks slowly hop along tree branches and on the ground to forage. In summer, pine grosbeaks eat spiders and insects here and there, but more than 90% of their diet is vegetation.
Learn how to identify an evening grosbeak.
Do Pine Grosbeak Visit Bird Feeders?
However, if you happen to catch a winter irruption, there are a few ways to make your backyard feeders extra welcoming. Doug says, “In winter, they’re seedeaters, so black oil sunflower seeds or shelled sunflower seeds are good for them. You can also try crab apples or mountain ash fruits on a platform feeder.”
What does a black-headed grosbeak look like?
Pine Grosbeak Call
Bird sounds courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
During breeding season, mated pairs show their monogamous bond with identical flight calls. Other times, flocks that forage together use similar calls as a way to keep track of the group.
According to naturalists at Rocky Mountain National Park, if you toot like a pygmy-owl, pine grosbeaks might show up and sing along.
Pine Grosbeak Range Map
Pine grosbeaks are common in Canada’s expansive Boreal forests and near the timberline in the mountain regions of the western U.S.
Like other northern bird species, such as redpolls and snowy owls, pine grosbeaks move south if their source of food is in short supply, in a type of irregular, seasonal migration called irruption.
An irruption happens when northern birds travel farther south than they normally would, looking to fill their bellies. Check the Finch Forecast to see if an irruption of pine grosbeaks or other species is predicted for your area this year. Flocks can show up nearly anywhere across the northern U.S. in winter.
Next, learn how to identify a rose-breasted grosbeak.
Sources
- National Park Service – Rocky Mountain National Park, pine grosbeak
- All About Birds – pine grosbeak
- National Audubon Society: Birds of North America
- The Joy of Bird Feeding: The Essential Guide to Attracting and Feeding Our Backyard Birds by Jim Carpenter
- National Audubon Society – pine grosbeak
- New Hampshire Audubon – pine grosbeak
- Kern Audubon – Bird of the Week: Pine grosbeak
- Adirondack Explorer – Pine grosbeaks: A favorite winter finch
- PennState Extension – There’s a New Bird in Town: Irruptions and Superflights
- American Bird Conservancy – Pine Grosbeak
- Product of Newfoundland – A Mope Among The Dogberries
