Rose-breasted Grosbeaks: A break to feed, then flying on

Rose-breasted Grosbeak in our backyard trees. © SB

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks arrived in our Regina, SK, neighbourhood this week.

First, I saw a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak at the feeder in the front yard, then more males showed up at the back of the house.

Finally, a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak made a quick — though all-but-hidden — touchdown on the bird feeder, too.

They may be gone now... A few days lurking, and the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are on their way further north. (Not terribly far north; the All About Birds map looks like boreal forest, to me. I wish we had more trees to keep them longer here!)

What a bird of contrasts! Black and white, with a rosy-red breast - Rose-breasted Grosbeak. © SB

Yes, that's a pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks... The female is hiding.
(This 2014 post has a better view of the female)  © SB

What are these? Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.
Location: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Photo Date: May 12, 2016.

~~~~~

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks: New Regina Backyard Bird

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak  © SB

The recent rain brought many beautiful birds to our Regina, Saskatchewan, backyard — including our first-ever Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.

Perhaps oddly, I find the females, with their crisp brown markings, almost as beautiful as the males...

But the male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are truly gorgeous in black and white with that rosy red bib!

And as for the beaks that give Grosbeaks their names, they really are huge. From other images, I'd thought perhaps they were finch-like, but no, they are so very much bigger than that.

The birds at the feeders, below, display this beakly magnificence.

These birds arrived one evening, then reappeared the next morning, with visits to the feeders in the front and back yards off and on throughout the day. 

And now, they seem to have flown on. To wherever Rose-breasted Grosbeaks go — to wherever they've been every other spring, when I haven't seen them.

For two more photos of these birds, see Male and Female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks on my photography blog. 

A Pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.     © SB

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak  © SB

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak © SB

What are these? Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. 
Location: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Photo Date: May 20, 2014.   

~~~~~