Rose-breasted grosbeaks are beautiful birds that return to New England from their winter homes in Central and South America to enjoy the fruits and berries that our summer vegetation provides. They also enjoy small insects and seeds, especially black-oil sunflower provided by backyard feeders (when it isn’t bear season). If you have berry-producing plants in your yard, especially elderberries and blackberries, you know that is their favorite food.
While they are here, they build their nests and raise their chicks. This is where the unusual quirks come in. With most bird species, the brightly colored males avoid anything having to do with nest-building and incubating the eggs, for fear of attracting predators to the eggs and/or young. Well, that is not the case with these grosbeaks! The shiny black and white male with his bright rose breast happily works alongside the brown and white female in building the nest, and both male and female sing their lovely songs over and over as they build.
These birds are quick to make their somewhat flimsy nest, using grasses and twigs and lined with fine rootlets, hair and other soft fibers. Birders have reported that the nests are so lightly constructed that they are able to see the three to five eggs from below! Once the eggs are laid, the male takes his turn incubating, all the while singing loudly, day and night. Talk about not being worried about being discovered.
In slightly less than two weeks, the eggs hatch. The young stay in the nest for nine to 12 days before fledging, and remain dependent on their parents for food for up to three weeks.
Although rose-breasted grosbeaks will nest in most any moist deciduous forest, they particularly like suburban woods—parks, orchards and backyard gardens. When you are hiking the Holcomb Farm Tree Trail keep an eye out for them along the forest edges and hedgerows. You will also see them at the Granby Land Trust’s Dismal Brook Wildlife Sanctuary. “They are one of the marquee birds we see every year during the Mother’s Day weekend walks,” notes premier birder, John Weeks. “The habitat is ideal for them in both locations.”