Black-Headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)

5/5/13 This flashy male (the females are drabber) is perched on a Chitalpa tree along the driveway. These seed-eating songbirds frequent the bird feeders and are especially gluttonous when it comes to the sunflower seeds. La Cresta, Murrieta, SW Riverside County, CA

4/29/07 Male Black-Headed Grosbeak. La Cresta, Murrieta, SW Riverside County, CA

5/2/07 Female Black-Headed Grosbeak. La Cresta, Murrieta, SW Riverside County, CA

4/16/07 Bird feeder extravaganza: A female Black-Headed Grosbeak is below and a male perched above. The reddish guy in the center is a male House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) and the two grayish ones below him are female House Finches. It's something called "sexual dimorphism" in the avian world (i.e, the boys are prettier than the girls). How sexist is that?

5/18/07 A handsome boy on the Engelmann Oak above the orchard. La Cresta, Murrieta, SW Riverside County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Black-Headed Grosbeak

SPECIES: Pheucticus melanocephalus

LIFE LIST DATE: April 2007

LOCATION: At bird feeders in our garden. La Cresta, Murrieta, SW Riverside County, CA

From Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region

IDENTIFYING MARKS: 8"; Male: black head; buffy orange breast and collar; bold white markings on black wing. Female: large bill, buffy eyebrow; light streaking on buffy breast; 2 white wing bars. 

VOICE: Song similar to Rose-breasted grosbeak's (a rapid series of melodious whistles, referred to as 'a robin in a hurry'; call a distinctive squeak, like a sneaker on a gym floor). Call is a low eek.