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Daily Bucket - Grosbeaks and Crossbills in my Oregon Yard [1]
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Date: 2023-01-23
A colorful male Evening Grosbeak. What an impressive beak!
Welcome all to my first Daily Bucket! I’ve been observing nature and natural phenomena in Oregon for a while, and am delighted to share what I’ve noted!
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on Follow.
The Pacific Northwest is a very birdy region. Diverse habitats abound – rocky seacoasts, fertile valleys with pond and marsh wildlife refuges, mountain ranges, and dry scrublands. I feel fortunate to have enjoyed backyard birds in both the Willamette Valley and in the ponderosa and lodgepole pine woodlands on the east side of the Cascade Mountains. In a previous diary: Central Oregon Birds: Mountain Specialties, I highlighted species endemic to western mountain pine forests: White-headed Woodpecker, Clark’s Nutcracker, Mountain Chickadee and Pygmy Nuthatch. www.dailykos.com/...
Birds with exceptional beaks: grosbeaks and crossbills, also came to my backyard feeders in Central Oregon. (For more on grosbeaks and crossbills see giddy thing’s Dawn Chorus: The Winter Wanderings of Boreal Birds January 12, 2019 www.dailykos.com/... and OceanDiver’s Dawn Chorus: Western Grosbeaks. And an Osprey farewell to martyc35 August 14, 2022. www.dailykos.com/...)
Male Evening Grosbeaks are spectacular; females have less flashy plumage. Both have heavy duty beaks for crunching seeds, or nuts, or insects. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s ebird site notes that populations of Evening Grosbeaks are, unfortunately, vulnerable and in decline. I was lucky to have recurring visits to my yard in a high elevation (4000 ft) pine forest, one of their breeding habitats.
A female Evening Grosbeak, with less flashy plumage, but a very big beak!
At my feeders in Central Oregon, spring and fall migrating flocks of Evening Grosbeaks pigged out on the sunflower seeds, upsetting the Mountain Chickadees and other usual feeder birds. One or two pairs nested in the yard’s ponderosa pines and chowed down on the seeds all summer.
The Mountain Chickadees were miffed when migrating Evening Grosbeaks took over the seed feeder.
In breeding season a pair of Black-headed Grosbeaks also showed up at the feeders. While the Evening Grosbeak is an oversized finch, the Black-headed Grosbeak is related to Cardinals, and has a wonderfully melodious song.
A male Black-headed Grosbeak at the suet feeder
The female Black-Headed Grosbeak has head stripes and more muted colors.
A Female Black-headed Grosbeak getting some suet
Though both grosbeak species typically visit seed feeders, in my yard while the Evening Grosbeaks always fed on sunflower seeds, the Black-headed Grosbeaks much preferred suet. Perhaps the Black-headed pair found my lard-peanut butter-oatmeal suet blend an easier food source for their nestlings than spending time and energy hunting caterpillars and grubs.
An Evening Grosbeak at the seed feeder in summer; his mate and a Black-headed Grosbeak at the suet feeder look on
Red Crossbills, another species of finch, were present all year in the pine forests. Using their eponymous beaks these birds efficiently pry seeds out of pine cones, or the kernels out of sunflower seeds. One winter a flock of Red Crossbills descended on seeds I scattered over the snow.
A flock of Red Crossbills (the females are dull colored) feasting on sunflower seeds in the snow
During summer nesting pairs of Red Crossbills were regulars at the seed feeder, allowing good views of their crossed beaks.
A female Red Crossbill in summer, showing off her seed-prying took kit
You never know what might show up in your backyard or local patch of nature — keep on looking!
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