Pine Grosbeak

The Pine Grosbeak is an irruptive finch of the northern coniferous forest, and one we see in New Hampshire only during the winter. They typically occur in alternate years, roughly on the same schedule as the Bohemian Waxwing, with which they share a penchant for fruit. The grosbeaks, however, are consuming the seeds rather than the pulp, as is often evidenced by the considerable collections of the latter underneath crabapples and other trees where they have been feeding. When they appear south of their breeding range this species is famous for being tame, hardly moving even when observers approach within a few feet.

Although almost entirely a winter bird in the Granite State, there are scattered summer records dating back to the 1800s, and on at least two occasions Pine Grosbeaks were presumed to have bred in northern Coos County. It’s possible that breeding attempts follow big winter invasions, but summer records are so few that this hypothesis is hard to test. The species breeds more regularly as close as central Maine. It is more common in the Canadian Maritimes, where limited data suggest that populations are declining. Winter data for New Hampshire corroborate these trends, with numbers in irruption years generally lower than they were 50-60 years ago.

Pine Grosbeaks come in three colors. The bright reddish-pink males are generally outnumbered by greenish-yellow females and immatures. Scattered amongst the flocks are occasional rusty brown birds that can be either females or young males. As with many finches, this species gives a distinctive flight call that is often the first clue that they are in the area. Listen for a whistled “tee-tee-tew” that is reminiscent of a Greater Yellowlegs.