- Pinicola enucleator
Identification
7.75 inches
- Large, conical bill
- Long, forked tail
Adult Males
- Deep rose red on the head, face, rump, and underparts
- Back and scapulars pink mottled with black
- Wings and tail black -the wings with two distinct white wing bars
- White edges on the tertial feathers
- Lower belly is whitish
- Thighs, undertail coverts, and flanks, to some extent, are grey
- Legs and feet are dark brown or black
Adult Females
- Lack any pink
- Grey above with a variably orange or yellow-brown head, nape, and face
- Lores and cheeks are greyish
- Chin, throat, and breast are light grey
- Yellowish tints on the lower throat and breast
- Wings and tail are dark brown and show two wing bars
- Flight feathers have white edges
Distribution
Northern boreal Europe, Russia, and North America.
Taxonomy
Eleven subspecies are recognized[1]. Recent results indicate that the birds in Europe and North America are diverged enough to be different species[2].
Habitat
Coniferous woods, pond and stream edges, and the edges of open fields and marshes.
Behaviour
Diet
Includes the buds of many trees, including maple, birch, apple, mountain ash, poplar, and willow and the fruits of crab apple, bittersweet, barberry, and mountain ash, and the seeds of birch, pine, and spruce trees. Also grass and weed seeds and various insects.
Vocalizations
Similar to Purple Finch's song, but it varies more in pitch and has more distinct, less-slurred notes.
<flashmp3>Pinicola enucleator (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
References
- Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
- Thread in Taxonomy forum discussing recent results relevant to taxonomy of Pine Grosbeak (from post 5 onwards)
