~ Unless I go quite far northwest, and then perhaps “Ode on an Aleutian Tern,” (using pen name John Tweets?)
Thank you, I’m here all year.
This is a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus (I’m wishing I’d taken Latin instead of French in school. I do know “gros-” indicates the large or heavy bill of the bird.) The female grosbeak looks kind of like a very large sparrow.
This species only passes through our area during migration, summering in northern Ohio, surrounding states (to summarize) and into Canada. My photos are from May, but I brought them up because I’m sure I heard a rose-breasted grosbeak in the yard this morning. They have a subtle yet distinctive (He does make me think of red wine) sharp, squeaky call “like sneakers on a gym floor” as Sibley describes it. Works for me! That’s exactly how I located the male in our tree this past spring.
This morning though - come to think of it - might have been the neighbors’ swing set that was squeaking.
2 comments:
I had one of these at my feeders a couple years ago and nearly fainted with the surprise... nice pics!
Thanks Laura! They are a bit of a shock to see. In flight, the male's coloring reminds me of a woodpecker.
He was very aggressive at the feeder, as if to say "Watch out! I have somewhere else to be!"
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