I haven’t been seeing many Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks this year, so I’m treasuring the times I do. I even captured an Eastern Blue Bird in the upper left.

From the Internet: The genus name of the Rose-breasted grosbeak Pheucticus comes from Ancient Greek pheuktiko, “shy”, and from pheugo, “to flee”; the specific name ludovicianus comes from New Latin and refers to Louisiana.

Rose-breasted grosbeaks are famous for their melodic song and during the mating season males may sing up to 689 songs in a day while advertising their breeding territories.

Rose-breasted grosbeaks are very strong fliers; during migration, they are able to fly through the Gulf of Mexico without stopping, which is over 500 miles.

The female can almost be mistaken for a large sparrow, but has more distinctive markings.

I got spoiled last year, because I saw a wide variety of birds. This year there seems to be mostly finches and sparrows.