OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Pheucticus ("shy") melanocephalus ("black headed")
Juvenile Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) at San Jose, California - August 2022 - Handled by Licenced Ringers
Featured Subspecies: unclear
Weight: 34-38g / Length: 18-19cm / Wingspan: 32cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern
A robust finch species and relative of the cardinal, the Black-headed Grosbeak is one of the few species that is able to eat monarch butterflies, which are usually toxic due to the milkweed they feed on. Interestingly, the same genetic solution to being protected from the milkweed toxins that the monarch has developed evolved in parralel in the grosbeak!
Related Species:
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Cardinalidae
Genus: Pheucticus
SUBSPECIES: P. m. maculatus, P. m. melanocephalus
- Sighting Locations -
UNITED STATES
Found in the Western half of the Lower 48
- CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP: Seen at San Jose,
Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto
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