Wintering Pine Grosbeaks dine on area delights

• Pine Grosbeak

A female pine grosbeak dines on sunflower seeds on a feeder. Photo by Larry Weber for the Budgeteer
• Larry Weber

Larry Weber

Talk about it

Late January is a time of midwinter. Days and nights hold the chilly grip of this month. But we do see changes that tell of the season moving on. The length of daylight is nine and one-half hours, an hour longer than it was at the time of the winter solstice. Recently, the sun started setting after 5 p.m., for the first time since early November.

Though still cold, these longer hours of light trigger various happenings. I often notice in the mornings, especially the clear ones, the “feebee” song of the chickadees. Nuthatches call with a louder “yank-yank” sound than we’ve heard all winter. And back in the woods, downy and hairy woodpeckers frequently make their resonating drumming noises on tree trunks. It’s too early for breeding, but all of these sounds are starting the birds in that direction. Elsewhere, coyotes regularly yip as they check territories, since their breeding season is already in full force. And the new black bear cubs are being born in sleepy dens.

We still have plenty of winter to go and when I look out at the flocks of redpolls, that grew from a casual visitor a month ago to nearly one hundred now, I want them to stay much longer. Once settled in, they may last until April, depending on how the spring unfolds. Other finches, such as goldfinches and pine siskins, have come by too, but it is the redpolls that demand attention at this time. Even the persistent chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers that have been at the feeders since November are overshadowed by these tiny lively birds with red markings on their foreheads.

But there is much happening beyond the feeders as well. Recently as I traveled in the region, I came by a crabapple tree. Like the hawthorns, the crabapple trees had a good crop of fruit this year. All these last couple of months, the little apples have hung in the cold and are now frozen solid. That did not stop a flock of pine grosbeaks from feeding here. Even though pine grosbeaks are finches, they are much larger than the diminutive redpolls, siskins or goldfinches. At nine inches long (nearly as big as a robin), the pine grosbeak is about four inches longer than most of the members of this group. Being this big, the birds were easy to see. As often happens with these grosbeaks, I was able to get quite close. About twenty were in this grouping and they used their large beaks (“grosbeak” means “big beak”) to break open the frozen crab apples and eat them. Even after scattering when I did get too close, they quickly returned to dine on this nutritious food still available at this date. I also noticed that all of the members of this flock were gray-brown females.

In a definite and obvious case of sexual dimorphism, male and female pine grosbeaks are dramatically different. While the females that I observed here were gray-brown and rather drab in color, the males are a bright red with white wing bars, a delight to behold. For some reason, this entire gathering was female. Maybe they feed better without the males since they are more camouflaged in their attire.

I have not had pine grosbeaks visit my feeder this winter, though I have had them in the past and neighbors tell me of their presence. Here they readily go for sunflower seeds. Two other grosbeaks, the yellow-black evening grosbeak and the rose-breasted grosbeak may also be in the Northland. In the past, the evening grosbeaks would abound at feeders in winter, but not in recent years. Rose-breasted grosbeaks nest here, but still will go to feeders if we continue to feed in spring after they return from migration.

Pine grosbeaks become harder to see in late winter. They appear to move back further north early. But I expect that they will still be feeding in fruit and berry trees for a couple more weeks in the area. And even though this flock did not come to my feeders, it was a great addition to the local wintering avian fauna.

Retired teacher Larry Weber is the author of several books, including “Butterflies of the North Woods,” “Spiders of the North Woods” and “Webwood.” Contact him c/o budgeteer@duluthbudgeteer.com.

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