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Yellow Grosbeak

Pheucticus chrysopeplusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Cardinals and Grosbeaks (Cardinalidae)

Yellow Grosbeak Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Yellow Grosbeak: Large finch, yellow overall with black streaks on back. Bill is large and triangular with black upper mandible and gray lower mandible. Black wings have two white bars and black tail coverts have bold white tips.

Range and Habitat

Yellow Grosbeak: Native of western Mexico; sometimes visits southeastern Arizona during the summer, where it frequents riparian areas and canyons.

Voice Text

"chee-er, weer-wee-ah", "ieek"

Interesting Facts

  • The Yellow Grosbeak was first described in 1832 by Nicholas Aylward Vigors, an Irish zoologist and politician.
  • The bill is even bigger in proportion to the head than those of its northern relatives.
  • A group of grosbeaks are collectively known as a "gross" of grosbeaks.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Yellow Grosbeak
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Pheucticus chrysopeplus
Length9 - 9.5 Inches
Wingspan12.5 Inches

Yellow Grosbeak

Yellow Grosbeak: Large finch, yellow overall with black streaks on back. Bill is large and triangular with black upper mandible and gray lower mandible. Black wings have two white bars and black tail coverts have bold white tips. Alternates rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "chee-er, weer-wee-ah", "ieek"

● Foraging & Feeding: Yellow Grosbeak: Eats mainly seeds, but also insects, berries, and fruits. Forages low to high in trees and at times on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Yellow Grosbeak: Two to five gray-and-brown flecked, light green or blue eggs are laid in a nest made of sticks and grass, lined with finer materials, and built in a bush or tree at mid-level. Incubation ranges from 11 to 12 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Yellow Grosbeak: Flame-colored Tanager is smaller with slender, pointed bill, and yellow-green underparts.

Flight Pattern

Short flights with rapidly beating wings alternating with brief periods of wings pulled to sides.
Yellow Grosbeak Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Yellow Grosbeak: Native of western Mexico; sometimes visits southeastern Arizona during the summer, where it frequents riparian areas and canyons.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCasual
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight2.2 Ounces