This morning I had 2 Grosbeaks at my feeder. One was a male, who was pretty wet in the downpour, but had the typical rosy breast. Very fabulous bird!
The other is a bit of an enigma. It was not a female Rose Breasted, nor did it have typical colors of a male. I assumed it must be a juvenile male RBG, but I looked at some photos and I'm confused.
The second bird had coloration on the wings reminiscent of, but not absolutely identical with the male at the feeder. It was pale all over, with a white belly. I don't recall the head color - it was darkish, but I just can't say what it was exactly. But what I do know is that there was yellow on this bird, faintly on the upper chest and darker near the wings. Not warbler-yellow, but gold.
It was pouring rain when the birds came. The male came to the feeder several times, and the other was much more skittish. It came to my tree, left, came back, left, then went to the feeder where the male Grosbeak was feeding. It flew right at the male, who leapt up as the other bird connected or nearly did, then they both flew away. I never got a really good look at the "other".
As I look at identification photos on the internet, my "other" looks most like a black headed grosbeak, because of the yellow. But the yellow was distributed more like the female than the adult male.
Which still leaves me lost.
What I'd like to know: do Rose Breasted Grosbeaks ever have yellow on their chest, particularly when it is not in a "bib" pattern? Do juvenile male Black Headed Grosbeaks ever have really light heads and light yellow chests? And, finally, what's the chances of the two species hanging out together?
Confused,
Joanne Howl, DVM
<jovet...>
West River, MD
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