General
Pine Grosbeak: Large, robust finch with red-washed black back, gray sides and undertail coverts, and pink-red rump and underparts. Head and face are pink-red; bill is heavy and black. Wings are black with two pale bars. Tail is black and slightly notched. Female and juvenile are gray with variably orange or olive-brown heads, napes, and faces. Juvenile male resembles female but may have red wash on head.
Range and Habitat
Pine Grosbeak: Breeds from Alaska east to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and south in the western mountains to California and Arizona. Spends winters south to the Dakotas and New York but may go farther south to southern Canada and northern United States. Prefers open coniferous forests and forest edges. Winters in mixed coniferous-deciduous forests; also found in shade trees in villages and in suburbs where it looks for food.
Breeding and Nesting
Pine Grosbeak: Two to five blue green eggs with black, purple, and brown spots are laid in a bulky nest made of twigs, weeds, and rootlets, lined with hair, soft grass, moss, and lichens, and built low in a conifer, usually no more than 10 to 12 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 13 to 15 days and is carried out by the female.
Foraging and Feeding
Pine Grosbeak: Feeds on seeds, buds, fruits, and insects; favorites include crabapple, bittersweet, barberry, and mountain ash fruit, and birch, pine, and spruce seeds; forages in trees and on the ground.
Readily Eats
Safflower, Apple Slices, Suet, Millet, Peanut Kernels, Sunflower Seed, Fruit
Vocalization
Pine Grosbeak: Song varies from a clear, loud carol full of trills to a soft, flowing warble. Call consists of a whistled "teu, teu, teu", with the middle note higher. Both may be given in flight.
Similar Species
Pine Grosbeak: Other grosbeaks and finches are smaller, have shorter tails, and different calls. White-winged Crossbill is smaller and has distinct white patches on wings. Red Crossbill is smaller and has forked tail.