9 replies to this topic

[Benjamin DeHaven]

Hey all...

I have what should be a Rose-breasted Grosbeak but it just isn't right. It has spots on the belly, a dark upper mandible, and black between the light stripes on the head. Is there any chance this is a Rose-breasted x Black-headed Grosbeak hybrid? Now that you've stopped laughing please let me know why this doesn't look normal or even as described in my Stokes. This was taken 9.27.12 at Cromwell Valley Park in Baltimore County, Maryland. Thank you.



DSC_8854 by BadBirds, on Flickr


DSC_8855 by BadBirds, on Flickr


DSC_8860 by BadBirds, on Flickr

Benjamin

[JimBob]

Yep.

[Benjamin DeHaven]

Yep to which?

[blackburnian]

that is definitely a Rose-breasted Grosebeak, i think that what JB meant

[The Sego Sago Kid]

Seconding rose-breasted grosbeak. Looks like it's in between plumage.

[Benjamin DeHaven]

Ok, I'm having trouble finding images on the net of one that looks like this. I don't doubt your answer of a straight Rose-breasted given how crazy rare the hybrids are (not to mention your collective knowledge vs. my sometimes creative interpretation of the bird descriptions). I suppose today isn't my day to be the next mid-Atlantic birding superstar... Always tomorrow.

Thanks for the looks!

Benjamin

[The Sego Sago Kid]

How about this one:



Non-breeding head, breeding body?

[Benjamin DeHaven]

Ya, better than what I could find. Just looks to me that my birds upper mandible is so much darker and its head / beak angle / arc is so much shallower. Nothing that lighting and angle couldn't explain away I suppose. Two weeks ago I had never seen a Rose-breasted at all so all my thoughts are based on two weeks of sporadic sightings and Stokes. Hardly the full picture gained by years of direct observations. Just one of those things, it looks different to me but I am quite convinced I am wrong. Breeding plumage is a harsh mistress. And as the above picture points out, even individual birds don't always transition as a whole leading to limitless combinations.

[JimUSNY]

I think they take quite a while to transform into their full male colors.. a couple years?

[TheBillyPilgrim]

I think they take quite a while to transform into their full male colors.. a couple years?

These guys have one immature basic and alternate plumage (the equivalent of "breeding" and "non-breeding") so they molt into their first "adult" plumage at about 1 year of age.