Black-headed Grosbeak
Pheucticus melanocephalus (Swainson)

Male Black-headed Grosbeak in flight at McGregor Marsh,
Vancouver Island BC - June 1,  2003.  © Ralph Hocken.

• BioDiversity Institute:  www.bdi.org
• Patuxent Wildlife Research Center:
  http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i5960id.html
• eNature.com:
  http://www.enature.com/html/guides/Black-headed_Grosbeak.html

Black-headed Grosbeak Life History:
The following is a useful source for life history information:

• eNature.com:
  http://www.enature.com/html/guides/Black-headed_Grosbeak.html

Black-headed Grosbeak Distribution:
Very common breeder in much of western North America from southern British Columbia and Alberta south into Mexico.  Most birds winter in Mexico.  Vagrants have been reported as far north as Alaska and in most of the eastern states.  An immature male was in Des Moines County IA January 25 to February 9, 2003 (Dooley 2003) and in the Pakenham area ON mid-November to early December 2003 (Pringle 2003), providing rather far northern winter records.  Sources for more distributional information include:

• Breeding Bird Survey Map from the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center:
  http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/htm03/ra2003_red/ra05960.htm
• National Audubon Christmas Bird Count Database:
  http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/

Black-headed Grosbeak Images:
Click HERE to view our Black-headed Grosbeak image gallery.

Black-headed Grosbeak Data:

• Breeding Bird Surveys: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/
• National Audubon Christmas Bird Count Database:
  http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/

Black-headed Grosbeak Additional References:
Click HERE to view a few more references.