Enjoying Evening Grosbeaks

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You'd think that all grosbeaks would be members of the same bird family, wouldn't you?  Not so!  Rose-breasted, Black-headed, and Blue Grosbeaks are all members of the cardinal family. But the Evening Grosbeak is a member of the finch family—more closely related to goldfinches and redpolls.

And what a beautiful bird! Evening Grosbeaks are large birds, 6-8 inches long and the male is very noticeable with dark brown, bright yellow, and dull gold plumage, along with a white wing patch. And the female is pretty too. She’s more gray, and has two white wing patches that are very obvious in flight. Evening Grosbeaks are primarily seed eaters and have large, heavy bills to crack seeds easily. 
During the summer, the Evening Grosbeak is a bird of the northern US, southern Canada and the Rocky Mountains. In winter, they’re considered a short-distance migrant, and their winter range is very irregular. Some winters they’ve even been seen as far south as Florida!  

If there are Evening Grosbeaks in your area, they can be attracted to your feeders with economical black oil or gray striped sunflower seeds, which they will devour in large amounts! Sometimes they can be attracted with fruit, so try putting out half an apple or some raisins. Our Strawberry and Apple Cobbler would also "fill the bill".

And since they are such large birds and tend to stay on a feeder, cracking one seed after another, grosbeaks like feeders with a lot of room. Any platform feeder would be an excellent choice. One with a roof would offer them protection from rain and snow.  Just look at this amazing image at right!
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see Evening Grosbeaks that often, even if you live in their range. Birders have reported seeing them one year and then not seeing them several years in a row and then suddenly they appear again. But seeing these birds just once is a memorable sight—certainly one worth waiting for!
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We have many cardinals at our feeders, but this spring saw our first rose breasted grosbeaks. They are beautiful. Living in east Texas, we probably won't see these beautiful evening birds, but we are hoping the others will come back. Enjoy your articles!

Posted by Margaret on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 09:47 AM

since i put out 6 finch feeders i get more and more finches,i never had them before, cardinals i get 3 pairs all the time,finches i got 12 this year,i also get a lot of other ones that i have never seen,also i attracted at least hundreds of butterflys,i planted 6 butterfly bushes and they where packed, took lots of pictures

ingrid gutt

Posted by ingrid gutt on Saturday, September 6, 2008 08:47 AM

We get large numbers of evening grosbeaks every year. It is my seasonal indicator for spring and fall. We live in the North-Western Sierra Nevada. They have been coming to my feeders for over 12 years now.

Posted by jennifer on Tuesday, September 9, 2008 06:16 PM

I am new to Bird watching. In June I spotted an unusual bird at our feeder. Luckily I had the e-mail address of an Audubon bird watcher. I emailed her a description of the bird and in a few hours she let me know that the bird was a rose-breasted Grosbeak. I saw it a few more times but it probably migrated south in the last few weeks. Hope to see it again next spring. They are beautiful birds! We live in northwestern Pa.

Posted by Mary Jane on Thursday, September 11, 2008 12:17 PM

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