[birding] Rose-Breasted Grosbeak # 2

[Joel Geier]

Hi all,

Jamie's right that some female Black-headed Grosbeaks can be less
orangy, so the key thing is the crisp streaking on the breast & throat.
The other thing that stands out is that the dark parts of the facial
pattern, wings, etc. are more cool-toned than on a Black-headed
Grosbeak.

Again, the differences are pretty striking if you've been looking at the
usual female Black-headed Grosbeaks regularly. So if it just seems sort
of different from average, it probably isn't a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Still, if you see something that looks out of the ordinary, I'm sure a
lot of local birders would rather hear about it than not.

Joel

On Wed, 2010-06-09 at 20:36 -0700, Jamie S. wrote:
> On the other hand, I watched a female Black-headed Grosbeak on May
> 30th at South Beach (Yaquina Bay; while looking for the rare Blue
> Grosbeak) that was very pale and had only a hint of pale orange, which
> was on the throat or upper breast. It lacked the strong streaking on
> the breast and throat that a female Rose-breasted has. So carefully
> observe any candidates for female Rose-breasted Grosbeak before
> jumping to that conclusion....
> 
> --- On Wed, 6/9/10, Joel Geier <joel.geier at peak.org> wrote:
>         
>         From: Joel Geier <joel.geier at peak.org>
>         Subject: Re: [birding] Rose-Breasted Grosbeak # 2
>         To: birding at midvalleybirding.org
>         Date: Wednesday, June 9, 2010, 7:39 PM
>         
>         Hi all,
>         
>         Just a thought ...
>         
>         .. with Chris reporting a second male Rose-breasted Grosbeak
>         in
>         Corvallis this week, and a few others being reported around
>         Oregon,
>         there seems to be a bit of an invasion going on. And if males
>         are
>         showing up, there should be females too. 
>         
>         So ... might want to watch female grosbeaks coming to feeders
>         too!
>         
>         I bumped into a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak while I was in
>         northern
>         Virginia for work a few weeks ago, and was really struck by
>         how
>         different she looked compared with our local female
>         Black-headed
>         Grosbeaks. A lot less orangey, and with fine streaking on the
>         breast.
>         
>         If you've been paying attention to the regular female
>         Black-headed
>         Grosbeaks at your feeders, I think you'll notice the
>         difference if one
>         of these girls shows up!
>         
>         Happy birding,
>         Joel
>         
>         --
>         Joel Geier
>         Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
>         
>         
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> 
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