Mr. & Mrs. Grosbeak~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life

Meet mommy grosbeak.

She is not as flashy,

as her hubby.

But she has a subtle, more delicate beauty.

Here is her dashing Romeo.

You have to admit he is, quite the looker, and eater!

He is shy, hesitant around humans,

smart birdie.

Cheers to you from the happy Holler honeys~

179 thoughts on “Mr. & Mrs. Grosbeak~”

  10. He’s gorgeous and so is she!
    So are your shots!
    I saw a report on H1N1 bird flu. All birds (domestic and wild) are in danger, due to climate change. We are destroying hundreds of thousands of chickens here. It’s crazy. If we see dead birds, they want us to collect them (with rubber gloves and a mask on) seal in plastic and call the health department.

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    1. I know it is horrible. It spreads rapidly and decimates wild birds. In the USA it has not yet gone west of Utah. If it does all Holler feeders will need to be shut down, which is terrible for all the nesting birdies დ

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      1. Aww! დდ
        My niece and her husband need to take down their bird feeder in Winnipeg. At issue, though, is the fact they have been having extra cold weather and blizzards this April.
        Squirrels, rabbits and more have been using the feeder and what spills onto the snow to survive.

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  21. We’ve occasionally seen these birds here in the past, but not for several years. This is true of many of our occasional species. I wonder what is happening to them. Pesticides? Lit up city buildings that kill so many migratory birds at night? Something is changing, and not for the better. Great pictures, and I’m glad you are still seeing these birds.

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    1. Bird populations have been steadily declining mostly due to habitat loss, but the factors you mention contribute as well. Avian Flu is now ravaging the east and Midwest. It is not yet west of Utah. Avian flu arises from large scale avian agriculture and shipping, and decimates wild birds. The poor birds are under siege. I am sorry you are seeing the effects დ

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      1. Yes, I’m sorry too. I had heard a bit about avian flu making a comeback but haven’t heard any details. I hope it runs its course quickly without too much damage. I really love birds, and these obstacles they face make me so unhappy.

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  24. Anonymous

    Laughed about the ‘dashing Romeo,’ Cindy. It’s hard to pull off when wearing your lunch! 🙂 –Curt

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  27. Oh I’ve never seen a grosbeak before – they are both beautiful birds. I also appreciate the more subtle beauty in the female birds. Even the really plain ones. Thanks for sharing these pictures!

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  30. Your photos do an AWESOME job in highlighting the extreme difference between the sharp talons and beaks and the delightfully soft feathery torso that looks like a pillow!

    Do you know what are the crumbs around the beaks in the first few photos?

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    1. Thank you very much. In the first photo, it is a dried corn kernel in the female’s beak, in the fifth photo it is the shells of millet seeds on the birds beak, and the black seed in subsequent photo is a sunflower seed. დ

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            1. Oh boy. So many. The matijila poppies are blooming up a storm, so are the roses and David Austin roses. Everything is blooming, evening primrose, sweetpeas, rock rose, pincushions, nasturtiums, whirling butterfly bush, butterfly bush, The grapefruit and lemon orchards are blooming and all the cacti.

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              1. That’s a CA climate for you! Besides nasturtiums, sweet peas and some cacti what are edible? Poppies are gorgeous. Your entire garden must be. I use lemons almost daily. Our growing season in Upstate NY is limited. Do you already have posts of your garden for me to refer to? Sounds fantastic to me!

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                1. I post some, especially when in flower, under category Holler Happenings. We have a pomegranate orchard which is blooming now too, all the herbs you can think of including lots of lavender, and we have a few avocados. We also have a lot of white grapes and a few apples which are not right for our climate, but they grow, sort of. I didn’t plant them. I always grow veggies too. I am going to post some of our David Austin’s and the Matijila Poppy flowers soon. I have noticed that plants in upstate NY burst forth during the shorter growing season and put on an exuberant and gorgeous display. It may be shorter season, but it is more enthusiastic!! 😉

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                  1. Cindy, thank you for noticing our exuberant display in the gardens. My favorite juice has been organic pomegranate for breakfast. We have our herbs indoors until we can move them outside. You have an impressive array of plantings. I will have to drop by the Holler Happenings to see your beautiful gardens. Be well. oxox 🙂

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  50. Oh, Goodness!! I will never tire of these gorgeous creatures!

    You get the best shots!!

    I have all my life been puzzled why in nature the males are flashier, particularly so with birds! And only tonight as I read this, did it occur to me, that it allows the Moms to be somewhat more camouflaged and the Dad’s can help distract would be predators from the nests!

    Thank you for sharing these wonderful creatures!

    Cheers!

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  51. Pingback: Mr. & Mrs. Grosbeak~ — – Echoes in the Mist

  58. Haha Mr & Mrs Grosbeak! Love it! Your beautiful shots have always been a ‘beaKcon’ of light and hope in the midst of all the chaos in the world. ₍₍ ( ๑॔˃̶◡ ˂̶๑॓)◞❤️❤️❤️🌈

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  62. We are visiting family in the high desert a bit east of you. I was thumbing through their local bird book to familiarize myself with the western birds. So far, those in their back yard look… brown. – Oscar

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    1. Oh dear. Keep looking and enjoy your stay! There are are around 600 species of birds where we are, 500 native and the others introduced, but thriving. Of course I have never seen most of them დ

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  64. Our Grosbeaks just arrived a few days ago. They are certainly striking. We’re hoping to see more youngsters pestering mom and dad to be fed as we have for several years now. We have yet to locate a nest though. (That’s a good thing I suppose.)

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    1. How wonderful! I love to watch the juveniles badger their parents for food too. They fluff up their feathers and shake. So cute! I think smart birds build hard to find nests! დ

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  65. I have to agree about smart birds building where they’re hard to find. I actually caught the begging action of the grosbeak youngsters last year on video, but was too intimidated to try to post it…

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