Rose breasted grosbeak

Rose breasted grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus

Yesterday we were treated to a visit from a rose breasted grosbeak. This is the second grosbeak we have seen in our yard in the ten years we have lived here. This is the male, the female (which we did not see) is brown and looks quite different.

He came to eat from the new feeder my husband made. He stayed for most of the day, and sat up in our tree and sang his lovely song. All his singing attracted two other rose breasted grosbeaks and by the afternoon we had three of them, all male, munching at our feeder.

The birds were a little crazy yesterday. I had a male cardinal divebomb another male cardinal, the goldfinches were flying circles around each other, the housefinches were crooning songs together, and the house sparrow was collecting material for their nest.

House sparrow Passer domesticus

Here is the grosbeak (centre) with a male and female cardinal near one of our feeders.