Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) Male
Emigrant Lake - Jackson County - Oregon - USA
Habitat : Forests
Food : Insects
Nesting : Tree
Behavior : Foliage Gleaner
Conservation : Low Concern
"In western North America, the sweet song of the Black-headed Grosbeak caroling down from the treetops sounds like a tipsy robin welcoming spring. The flashy black, white, and cinnamon males and the less flamboyant females sing from perches in suburbs, desert thickets, and mountain forests... 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 8-day cycles, apparently to give themselves time to eliminate the toxins." - Cornell University Lab of Ornithology
Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) Male
Emigrant Lake - Jackson County - Oregon - USA
Habitat : Forests
Food : Insects
Nesting : Tree
Behavior : Foliage Gleaner
Conservation : Low Concern
"In western North America, the sweet song of the Black-headed Grosbeak caroling down from the treetops sounds like a tipsy robin welcoming spring. The flashy black, white, and cinnamon males and the less flamboyant females sing from perches in suburbs, desert thickets, and mountain forests... 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 8-day cycles, apparently to give themselves time to eliminate the toxins." - Cornell University Lab of Ornithology