Grosbeak and... what? (Colorado) (1 Viewer)

[tenex]

Last evening up against the front range foothills we saw a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak fly from tree to tree until we got a fine view of him. In this last pine tree, just behind him, there was a second bird which we took to be the female of a pair, facing away from us with a mottled brown back. But what we could see of the breast looked buffy, and rather than having the expected pattern the head looked pale reddish, the feathers quite fluffed out. They were rather high up and we never got a better view of this one. I thought of a House Finch preening, but was sure it was larger, similar in size to the Grosbeak. Does any other possibility come to mind?

 

[Butty]

1-year-old male rose-breasted grosbeak comes to mind.

 

[tenex]

Hmm, I suppose that's possible, and we may not actually have been seeing the head at all; it was hard to tell from below (never saw the beak).