Black-headed Grosbeak
Pheucticus melanocephalus

Family  Emberizidae

Band size  1A

     The Black-headed Grosbeaks are found throughout the western half of the U.S. in woodland habitats and fairly common in the summer in wooded canyon bottoms in southern California.  

AHY/ASY-M

     This is a large bird with a very large triangular bill.  Adult males have a cinnamon underside and the crown and face of the head is all black.  The back is mostly black with white wingbars.  The breast is an unstreaked rich cinnamon color.  The undersides of the wings are bright yellow in adults.  The adult female has a buffy underside with steaking.  The crown and face of the head and the uppersides are brownish.

AHY/ASY-F above.

Yellow underwing covs.  This is a HY female.  Note heavily streaked breast and gape.

Banding:  The BHGR is one of the most disliked birds by my banders.  It has a habit of biting those who are trying to remove it from the nets, almost drawing blood, while loudly squawking bloody murder all the while.  Giving the bird a small twig to bit on will often distract the bird enough until you remove it from the net.  Then, even holding the bird in the "bander's grip," the bird will turn its head to try to  take a chunk out of your finger.  I have learned that holding the fore and middle fingers out and high on the neck prevents this.

.Ageing and Sexing:  Pyle indicates all birds should be easily sexed, and males should be readily aged. But it is always easier said than done.  Part of the problem is that grosbeaks have both PB and PA molts, as well as a PS molt, with variability.

     The other three classes become confusing with the degree of "brown" on the head.  Starting with the HY/SY female, I look at the buff breast with extensive dusky streaks, and the white patch at the base of the primaries (-5 to 2 mm).  See below.

    As it is usually the case, HY/SY males and AHY/ASY females generate the most confusion.  Below is a SY male.  The reduced patch of white at the base of the primaries (4-9 mm) is the first clue.  Note the contrast between the greater covs and the primaries.  In BHGR, the PB occurs in the winter groups and includes all of the gr. covs. but not the primaries.  Not obvious but barely visible on the left of the picture is a contrast between what looks like the newer inner rectrices which have molted vs the older faded outer rectrices.  See these rectrices on the AHY/ASY male earlier.

     The AHY/ASY -F is below.  It is not the best picture (there is another shot shown above), but the white on the base of the primaries is reduced (0-6 mm).  The streaking on the breast is reduced, and the breast has a lot of white to it (Sibley notes that in breeding females, the breast can become whitish, and the bill is bicolored;  Pyle describes this as moderate tawny cinnamon from Sep-Mar and dull tawny cinnamon from Mar-Aug)).

More on Banding:  It seems that the family group stays together after the young fledge.  One bird's squawking after being caught seems to attract the others, so we usually have an array of age-sexes to look at.

Natural History:  The eastern ecological equivalent is the closely related Rose-breasted Grosbeak (same genus).  The two were isolated by the expanse of the Great Plains, but the gradual encroachment and planting of forests across the middle of the U.S. has resulted in increasing encounters between the two species, and this probably explains the hybrids.