Evening Grosbeak

An Evening Grosbeak is a fun bird to see while bird watching. Below are some tips to help you identify Evening Grosbeaks. We have also put together a list of fun Evening Grosbeak t-shirts, Evening Grosbeak bird patches, birdhouses, bird feeders, binoculars, stickers, and other fun bird-watching items.

About Evening Grosbeaks

These colorful birds of the finches’ family descend on bird-feeders during the winter season, displaying spectacular landing that wows birders. Even though they were initially common on the western side of the Great Lakes, they now thrive on the eastern side along Maritime Provinces. They travel in small flocks looking for sunflower seeds to devour. Some of their distinctive features include:

Description and Identification

Evening Grosbeaks are heavily built finches that closely resemble Eurasian hawfinches. They
have large bills and short tails. Evening Grosbeaks are 6.3-8.7 inches long, with a wingspan of 12-
14 inches. Males are around 1.5 times heavier than females. Male Evening Grosbeaks are
much more brightly colored than the females. They have bright yellow foreheads, bellies, and
backs — their heads are dark-brown and they have long white patches on their wings. Females are
duller in coloration, with brownish-gray heads, black wings with some white patches, and
yellow bellies. The younglings closely resemble the females.

Evening Grosbeak Color Pattern

Adult Evening Grosbeaks are entirely black and yellow with dark heads which have yellow stripes above the eyes. Their wings are coupled with white patches that are visible during perching. The females and juveniles are entirely gray with white-black wings.

Evening Grosbeak Size

Evening Grosbeaks are chunky birds with thick conical bills. They have fairly long tail compared to other finches.

The relative size of both sexes

• Length range: 6.3-7.1 in (16-18 cm)
• Weight: 1.9-2.6 oz (53-74 g)
• Wingspan range: 11.8-14.2 in (30-36 cm)

Evening Grosbeak Behavior

They are social birds that can be found in sizeable flocks especially in winter. They forage on treetops, shrubs, and on the ground. Even though social, they forage in pairs or alone during nesting. In courtship, the male performs several displays to which the female responds by mimicking them.

Evening Grosbeak Food

Evening Grosbeaks include a large variety of seeds in their diet. Their thick conical bills are
especially efficient at opening and crushing various types of seeds. Apart from eating seeds from
trees such as maples, box elders, cherry trees, apple trees, pines, docks, and bindweeds they also
eat a number of small fruits. Juniper berries, crabapples, snowberries, cherries, and ash fruits form
a majority of their fruit diets. Evening Grosbeaks might remove the fleshy coverings of fruits before
ingesting the seeds. Although these birds usually forage on top of trees and shrubs, sometimes
they forage for fallen fruits and seeds on the ground. During the summer season, Evening
Grosbeaks include invertebrates such as aphids and caterpillars into their diet.

They mainly feed on seeds, insects, and berries. However, they feed almost entirely on seeds of trees such as ash, locust, maple, etc. they are also feeders of buds of small fruits, deciduous trees, berries, and weed seeds. In summer, they also eat insects while in winter, feed on sunflower seeds at bird feeders.

Evening Grosbeak Habitat

The preferred breeding habitats for Evening Grosbeaks are coniferous forests in the northern
regions of the U.S and North America. Pinyon-junipers, pine-oaks, and spruce-firs are some of the
trees they use for nesting. On rare occasions, they can also be sighted nesting in deciduous forests
or open areas such as parks, and orchards. Commonly they elevate at heights that range from
5,000-10,000 feet. Evening Grosbeaks have a larger range for their wintering habitats. They can
be sighted residing in urban and suburban areas, coniferous forests, and deciduous forests during
winter. Evening Grosbeaks can especially be found near bird feeders in the winter season.

The Evening Grosbeaks breed mainly in coniferous forests found in North America and also the Rocky Mountains. They rarely breed in parks or deciduous woodlands. They winter in towns near bird feeders, deciduous and coniferous forests.

Range and Migration

Evening Grosbeaks are passerine birds that are found in most regions of North America. The
breeding range of these birds extends from Canada to northern California. Evening grosbeaks can
be sighted as far east as New Hampshire. These birds are a common sight at the great lakes and
the Rocky Mountains in the northern portion of the U.S. Except Florida, these birds can be found
wintering in all states of America.

Evening Grosbeak Lifecycle

The females lay 3-4 eggs and incubate them for 11-14 days. The hatchlings are fed by both parents and leave the nest after 2 weeks. They produce 1-2 broods per year.

Evening Grosbeak Nesting

Evening Grosbeaks are generally monogamous in nature, but polygamy might occur if food
sources in their breeding habitats are in excess. Males court the females by dancing with their head
and tail raised while dropping and vibrating their wings. Evening Grosbeaks form pairs before they
reach the breeding grounds. It is unknown if the males or females choose the nesting sites.
Females build the nests at high elevation in trees such as white spruces, Engelmann spruces,
Jeffrey Pines, ponderosa pine, and willows. They construct a flimsy nest made of pine needles,
lichens, rootlets, and grasses. Female Evening Grosbeaks lay about 2-5 eggs, which are then
incubated for 12-14 days.

Ornithology

Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes

At Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.

Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying Evening Grosbeaks

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Evening Grosbeaks are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

Evening Grosbeak T-shirts

If you love the Evening Grosbeak you should purchase a Bird Watching Academy & Camp T-shirt. To help support bird conservation we donate 10 percent to bird conservation activities.

Evening Grosbeak Iron On Patches

Kids, Youth, and Adults love to collect our Bird Watching Academy & Camp iron-on patches. Our bird-watching patches help you keep track of the birds you have seen and identified. You can also display the patches on our Bird Watching Academy & Camp banners.

The Evening Grosbeak is a great iron-on patch to start your collection with. The patches are durable and can be sewn on or ironed on to just about anything.

Evening Grosbeak Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Evening Grosbeak. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders for Evening Grosbeaks

There are many types of bird feeders. Here are our favorite bird feeders for your backyard. We use all of these bird feeders currently. Kids will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. Using this collection of bird feeders will provide a wide variety and many types of birds.

Best Bird Houses for Evening Grosbeaks

There are many types of birdhouses. Building a birdhouse is always fun but can be frustrating. These 4 birdhouses have become our favorites. Getting a birdhouse for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. We spent a little extra money on these birdhouses but they have been worth the higher price and look great.