Pine Grosbeak

The Pine Grosbeaks (Pinicola enucleator) are commonly referred to as Pine Bullfinches or Pine Rosefinches. They are the largest of the northern finch species.

Alternate (Global) Names

Belarusian: Шчурок … Catalan: Pinsà del pins … Chinese: [song-que], 松雀 … Czech: hýl køivèí, Hýl krivcí, Hýl křivčí … Danish: Krognæb … Dutch: Haakbek … German: Fichtengimpel, Hakengimpel … Estonian: Männileevike … Finnish: Taviokuurna … French: Durbec des pins, Durbec des sapins, Durbec vulgaire, Gros-bec des pins… Hungarian: Nagy pirók … Icelandic: Krókfinka … Italian: Ciuffolotto delle pinete … Japanese: ginzammashiko, Gin-zan mashiko, ginzanmashiko, Ginzan-mashiko … Norwegian: Fjelldompap, Konglebit … Polish: luskowiec, Łuskowiec, łuskowiec (zwyczajny), Łuskowiec zwyczajny … Portuguese: Pintarroxo-de-bico-grosso … Russian: Shchur, Обыкновенный щур, Щур, Щур обыкновенный … Serbian: Polarna zimovka, Поларна зимовка … Slovak: Hýl’ krivonosovitý, hýľ krivonosovitý, hýľ krivonosovitý (smrečiar krivonosý), smreciar krivonosí, smrečiar krivonosí, Smrečiar krivonosý … Slovenian: smrekov kalin … Spanish: Camachuelo carminoso, Camachuelo Picogrueso, Pinicola de Pico Grueso … Swedish: Tallbit … Turkish: Tayga çütresi … Tuvinian: Улуг кызыл-хөрек … Ukrainian: Смеречник

Breeding / Range:

The Pine Grosbeaks are permanent residents throughout most of their range; however, those that occur in the extreme north will migrate south for the winter. When food is scarce, they may descend from mountains into woods at sea level.

They occur in the coniferous forests in Alaska through Canada and east to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and south in western mountains to California and Arizona in the United States. Some winter in mid-western United States and New England.

They are native to the following countries:

Canada; China; Finland; Japan; Kazakhstan; Latvia; Mongolia; Norway; Russian Federation; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Slovakia; Sweden; United States

They are vagrants to the following countries:

Austria; Belgium; Bermuda; Czech Republic; Denmark; France; Germany; Greenland; Hungary; Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of; Netherlands; Poland; Switzerland; Ukraine; United Kingdom.

Subspecies

• • Pinicola enucleator enucleator (Linnaeus, 1758) – Nominate Race
    • Range: Scandinavia (southern Norway and central and north Sweden) east to central Siberia; winters south to southern Sweden and southwestern Siberia
  • Pinicola enucleator californica (Price, 1897)
    • Range: Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern California
  • Pinicola enucleator carlottae (A. C. Brooks, 1922)
    • Range: Islands and coasts from Queen Charlotte Islands to Vancouver Island, western Canada
  • Pinicola enucleator flammula (Homeyer, 1880)
    • Range: Southern Alaska and Kodiak Island south along the coast to western Canada (northwestern British Columbia). Winter south to central British Columbia, occasionally to Vancouver Island, and south to northwestern United States
  • Pinicola enucleator leucura (Statius Müller, 1776)
    • Range: West and central Alaska, central and eastern Canada (Quebec, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia). Winter south to southern Canada and northeastern USA
  • Pinicola enucleator montana (Ridgway, 1898)
    • Range: Southwestern Canada (interior central British Columbia) south to the Rocky Mountains of southwestern United States (eastern Arizona and northern and western New Mexico)
  • Pinicola enucleator pacata (Bangs, 1913)
    • Range: Eastern Siberia (east of Yenisey river and Sayan Mountains); east to Kolyma Basin and Sea of Okhotsk, south to central Altai, northeastern Kazakhstan, northern Mongolia and Stanovoy Mountains. Winter south to northeastern China (Heilongjiang and Liaoning)
  • Pinicola enucleator kamtschatkensis (Dybowski, 1883)
    • Range: Northeastern Russia, from Anadyrland south to North Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka. They winter south to northeastern China, in Heilongjiang & Liaoning
  • Pinicola enucleator sakhalinensis (Buturlin, 1915)
    • Range: Sakhalin, Kuril Islands and high mountains of Hokkaido (northern Japan)

Description:

Pine Grosbeaks are large bulky finches that measure 20- 25 cm (8 -10 in) in length (from head to tip of tail). The black bill is large, stubby and strongly curved. The black tail is long and forked. They have white wing bars.

Males:

Adult males have a mostly a dull rose-red plumage (head, back and rump); with dark streaking on the back. The dark wings have two white wing bars. Juvenile males have a grey body, except for a dull pinkish red head and rump.

Adult females:

Females look similar to the first-year males, with olive-yellow markings on the head and rump; and grey on the back and under plumage.

Behavior

They quickly grow confiding and usually don’t mind it when people approach them. They are generally slow moving.

Calls / Vocalizations

Their call is described as a 3-note whistle.

Breeding / Nesting

The bulky nest is made of grasses, rootlets and moss, lined with hair and down. The nest is situated low on a horizontal branch or in a fork of a conifer, usually no more than about 10-12′ (3-4 m) from the ground. The average number of eggs in a clutch are 2 to 5. The eggs are blue-green, blotched. The eggs are incubated for about 13 – 15 days.

Diet / Feeding:

These birds favor the seeds and fruit of trees, such as mountain ash and cedar. Their diet consists of seeds, buds, berries and insects. Outside of the nesting season, they often feed in flocks.

They settle in a tree and feed, snapping off buds or seeking the pits in fruit, until sated or disturbed.