The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak looks formal and slightly wounded at once — crisp black-and-white plumage with a triangle of deep rose spilled down the white breast. Females are big streaky brown finches with a bold white eyebrow. Both share the enormous pale beak ("grosbeak" means exactly that) that shells sunflower seeds like a nutcracker.
Grosbeaks return to Michigan's woodlands in early May, often straight to feeders, and stay to nest in open deciduous woods. The song is like a robin's but sweeter and more fluid — birders say "a robin that took voice lessons" — and unusually, males sing even while sitting on the nest, which both parents tend.
Roughly half insects (beetles, caterpillars) and half seeds, buds, and fruit through the season. At feeders they are devoted to black-oil and striped sunflower — a platform feeder in May is the classic setup.
The first week of May, with pleasant reliability — often the same handful of days each year. Keep sunflower stocked on a platform or hopper feeder; migrants arrive hungry.
A female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The massive pale bill and bold white eyebrow separate her from any sparrow or finch — she's nearly cardinal-sized.
Yes — males take regular incubation shifts and sometimes sing quietly while doing it, one of the few songbirds so bold on the nest.
First arrivals show up in March, numbers peak from May through July, and the last birds clear out during November. Outside that window Michigan has none.
Buff and streaky like a female but with a wash of rose on the breast and black wings with white patches. The underwing linings tell the sexes apart at any age — rose-red in males, yellow in females.
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