I need all your help again - this time for help with a Grosbeak ID. This young bird was here today after a storm came thru. When I glanced out the window, my first thought was a Black-headed Grosbeak because that is all I have seen here. Nice, because I haven't seen them around much this summer. Then it turned around and I saw the distinct pink/red V-neck of the Rose-breasted.

So, I just need confirmation that this is a 1st year male Rose-breasted. I've only see the breeding adult male in beautiful plumage, so I am unsure of this one.

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Thanks in advance for your thoughts...

Candy in Utah
Panasonic FZ30
The Early Bird gets the worm, but the 2nd mouse gets the Cheese...

Candy,

Looks like a perfectly good first-year male Rose-breasted Grosbeak to me. Utah is somewhat west of their "main" range, but I'm sure there are at least some records for the state; still, if I were you, I'd contact any local birding groups you could find to see just how unusual an occurrence this is. If records are few, they may request that you send your photographs in to the state records committee along with a report on what you saw. (Then again, it may occur rarely but frequently enough that they don't keep tabs on individual sightings.)

Either way it's definitely a cool bird to have on your yard list!

Kevin Morgan
Baton Rouge, LA

Candy, that youngster is much, much brighter than the juvie RBGBs I'm used to here in Maine. Could be a regional difference - but it could also indicate hybridization. I would not have called this an RBGB from the first shot - I would have gone with Black-headed.

Jill

Benton, ME
Canon Digital Rebel XT
Canon EF70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM

Jill - You may be right that it's a hybrid, but I've never seen a Black-headed Grosbeak with any pink on the chest - certainly not in the basic, classic triangle shape of a Rose-breasted. Those pink feathers are mentioned in the BNA account for this species but no corresponding coloration in the chest is noted for Black-headed Grosbeak.

I think it's safe to say "at least one" parent was a Rose-breasted. It's possible that the other was a Black-headed, but I'd say the overall brightness of the bird is more variable from individual to individual, and certainly less solid a field mark than the pink on the breast. BNA also notes that no subspecies have been described and notes little geographic variation, so I don't know that it's because this bird is (presumably) part of a more western population than you get in Maine. Perhaps the fall birds you see up there are at an earlier stage of molt?

Kevin Morgan
Baton Rouge, LA

Kevin, we have Rose-breasted breeding in the area, so I see the babes as soon as they're brought to the feeders through their departure in the fall. They are a much duller brown than this individual - I can't recall ever seeing one this orangey. But like I said, it could be a regional difference - you don't need formal subspecies to see clinal variations, etc.

Jill

Benton, ME
Canon Digital Rebel XT
Canon EF70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM

While it is impossible to completely rule out a hybrid I think it looks like a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The buff undertones to the breast and the thin streaks right across the breast indicate Rose-breasted. To be honest here in the east we don't look really carefully at the details of young grosbeaks, assuming they are all RB at this time of year.