Picture of the Day for August 27, 2015

The male black and white bird with the brilliant red chevron extending from the black throat down the middle of the breast is a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Females, like many species, are more plain in their brown streaked body. Their large triangular bills make it easy for them to crack sunflower seeds (as you can see in the video), but at least they drop the shells outside the feeder tray. They also eat insects and fruit, especially during their migration to Central and South American, which they would be doing now as I haven’t seen any grosbeaks for several days. Apparently they heard that meteorological summer ends on Monday and they left in a hurry.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Rose-breasted Grosbeak