GROSBEAKS

Yellow Grosbeak

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pheucticus chrysopeplus

The Yellow Grosbeak, also known as the Mexican Yellow Grosbeak, is a medium-sized seed-eating bird in the same family as the Northern Cardinal, "tropical" or "New World" buntings, and "cardinal- grosbeaks" or New World grosbeaks.

The Yellow Grosbeak plumage has bold contrasts of yellow, white, and black or gray.

Males are unmistakable. They are brilliant yellow overall in most of Mexico, but rich golden yellow in Chiapas and Guatemala. The back is black with yellow mottlings, the rump is yellow, and the upper tail coverts are black with white tips. The wings and tail are black with conspicuous white spots, patches, and wingbars.

Females are similar but their upperparts are more olive, with dark streaks on the crown and back. The black is replaced by gray, and the white markings on the wings, especially the white base of the primaries, are smaller.

Females are very similar in pattern to female Flame-colored Tanagers, but they are much bigger, especially as to their bill.

Immatures resemble females' overall.

The Yellow Grosbeak is considerably bigger than their North American congeners, the Black-headed Grosbeak and the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, being about 8.5 – 9.4 inches long and weighing an average of 62 grams. Their head is "massive", and their gray-black bill is even bigger in proportion to their head than those of their northern relatives.

Their typical calls are a metallic "iehk", "plihk" or "piik" and a soft "whoi", "hu-oi" or "hoee" often given in flight.

Their song is a variable, rich-toned warble resembling that of the Black-headed Grosbeak, but shorter.

They feed on seeds, fruits, and berries, as well as insects and spiders.

They are found in semi-open habitat with brush and thickets, typically a semi-open woodland or scrubland.

Occurs on the Pacific slope of Mexico from central Sonora to northwestern Oaxaca, and in southern Chiapas and Guatemala.
In Sonora, it is migratory. Occasional vagrants have reached the United States, mostly in summer in Arizona, but it has also been reported in California, Colorado, New Mexico, and even Iowa.

The nest is built in a bush or in a small tree. It is a small cup made of twigs, leaves, and grasses.
The female lays 2 - 5 pale bluish to greenish eggs with heavy brown and gray speckling. Both parents help to incubate the eggs, and both parents tend to the young upon hatching.

SOURCE:
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://www.sdakotabirds.com
https://ebird.org