Evening Grosbeak

Evening Grosbeak ( Hesperiphona vespertinus )

The evening grosbeak ( Hesperiphona vespertinus ) is an American passerine bird in the finch family.

Features

The 20 cm long evening grosbeak is a bird with a powerful beak and short tail. The male is brown on the head, neck, chest, colored black and the wing-coverts white on abdomen, back, forehead and eyes glancing over yellow, on wings and tail. The female is gray-brown on the back, a light brown color on the belly and has the black wings gray and white spots.

Occurrence

The evening grosbeak breeds in the coniferous forest zone of southern Canada through the western United States south to Mexico. Some birds winter in the central and eastern United States.

Behavior

This bird is looking high up in trees for fruits and seeds. In the breeding season insects supplement the diet. With its powerful beak of the bird can even cherry pits crack. In winter evening grosbeak form large swarms that come looking for food in gardens at bird feeders.

Reproduction

In a cup nest of twigs in the crotches of trees two to four eggs are incubated for about two weeks. With two weeks, the young birds fledge.

System

The evening grosbeak and the Abeillekernbeißer are closely related to the Eurasian Hawfinch ( Coccothraustes coccothraustes ) and are placed by some authors in addition to this in the genus Coccothraustes. The phylogeny of these three types is, however, not yet fully investigated and not demonstrated a direct relationship between the two New World species Hesperiphona with the Eurasian grosbeak. Anatomical studies from 1925 suggest a close relationship of Hesperiphona with the juniper grosbeak.

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