Black-headed Grosbeak

Black-headed Grosbeak

Pheucticus melanocephalus

  • ORDER: Passeriformes
  • FAMILY: Cardinalidae

Photo credit: Peter Pearsall-U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

I haven’t gotten a good picture of the black-headed grosbeak yet. We in fact didn’t know that we even had one here. At a distance, we assumed we were seeing the Spotted Towhee. We were tipped off that it wasn’t a Towhee when it hung itself half upside down eating a cut tangerine that we had hanging for the Orchard Oriole. Unfortunately the Oriole’s food is hanging from the hook farthest from the house.

How to tell the difference between the Black-headed Grosbeak and the Spotted Towhee: even from a distance, the easiest way is to look at the back of the neck. It’s orange on the Grosbeak and black on the Towhee. From the front of a male Towhee, the black comes down into a deep V in the front. Also though, depending upon your ability to get close enough or to use binoculars, they clearly have different beak, with the conical billed Towhee vs that of a Grosbeak.

The black-headed grosbeak is actually really interesting. One of my favorite things that I have learned is that both the male and female are great singers, with the male’s song being more extensive. When the female feels that male is not spending enough time at the nest, she has been known to sing the full males song to fool him into thinking another male is moving into his territory and thereby he will spend more time at the nest.

Another really interesting fact is that the over-winter in the same area as monarchs. Though monarchs are poisonous to most, the black-headed oriole will eat them! They set their monarch eating pace at a single monarch every 8 days. It is presumed that this allows them enough time to shed the toxin.

When they get used to us, I’ll try to get my own picture for here. 🙂

NESTING FACTS
Clutch Size:2-5 eggs
Number of Broods:1 brood
Egg Length:0.9-1.1 in (2.3-2.7 cm)
Egg Width:0.7-0.8 in (1.7-1.9 cm)
Incubation Period:12-14 days
Nestling Period:10-14 days
Egg Description:Pale to greenish blue with brown or reddish brown spotting.
Condition at Hatch: Helpless, nearly naked, with eyes closed; sparse grayish white down on apricot skin.
source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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