High Desert Bird of the Month: Black-headed grosbeak

Scientific name: 

Pheucticus melanocephalus 

How to identify:

Breeding males are a rich orange-cinnamon with a black head and black and white wings. Females and immatures are brown above with warm orange or buff on the breast. In flight, look for the beautiful bright yellow under the wings. Their bills are large and conical like other grosbeaks.

Habitat:

Habitat preferences are very diverse — they may be found from mixed woodlands, mountain forests and thickets along desert streams to gardens and backyards. Their ideal habitat seems to be a combination of large trees and a rich understory.

Where to find one:

The black-headed grosbeak is a spring and summer visitor in our area, and winters in Mexico. Preferred nesting sites are in the outer branches of small trees or a bush near a stream. Oxbow Nature Study Area is a good place in Reno to look for them during nesting season.

The song of the black-headed grosbeak is a real treat, sounding very robin-like. Both male and female are loud songsters; the female’s song is usually a simplified version of the male's. The male courts the female with singing and flight displays that involve fluttering up from a perch, singing and spreading his wings and tail, and settling back on the same perch. Both parents sit on the eggs, feed the young and defend their nesting territory. They will drive away predators like scrub jays and Steller’s jays.

How to attract one to your yard:

Insects and spiders make up about 60 percent of their breeding season diet, supplemented by seeds and fruits. They will visit backyard feeders for sunflower seed, and possibly even nectar feeders put out for orioles. Check with the staff at Moana Nursery for tips on seed and feeders for both types of grosbeaks.

Interesting fact:

In central Mexico, where monarch butterflies and black-headed grosbeaks both spend the winter, the grosbeaks are one of the butterflies' few predators. Toxins in the monarch make them poisonous to most birds, but black-headed grosbeaks and a few others can eat them. They feed on monarchs in roughly eight-day cycles, apparently to give themselves time to eliminate the toxins.

Carmel Ruiz-Hilton is manager of Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shops at Moana Nursery in Reno/Sparks.