Rose-breasted Grosbeak

I don't run across Rose-breasted Grosbeaks very often, but the bird feeder at NJ Audubon's Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary is a good place to find these birds.

You might be saying "that beak is kind of large, but I wouldn't call it gross", and you would be correct. The name comes from the French word "gros", meaning "large". (Google Translate gives "fat" as its first translation, though it also lists "large" as a valid translation.)

The grosbeaks are not a natural group since there are many birds with the grosbeak name that aren't particularly closely related to each other, and are much more closely related to birds without the grosbeak name. Most grosbeaks are actually finches or cardinals; they do all tend to be small birds with stout, seed-crushing beaks. 

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak's closest relative is the Black-headed Grosbeak, so much so that they can mate and raise hybrid offspring. I'm unlikely to see such a bird though, since the Black-headed Grosbeak generally lives a bit west of the Mississippi River.

July 18, 2021 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary
Photo 148188203, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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