#female rose-breasted grosbeak

[butcherlarry]

Exercise Fic Recs 11

Back to Superbat fanfic for this week!  Well, almost all Superbat.  There is one Twobats (Burharvey?) fic included, “Dad’s New Boyfriend” by TheClamBeforetheStorm.  It’s not completed, but it’s been fun to read!  The first fic is an update of one I’m currently following as well (I think I’ve recced it before, still so good!).  The other three are Supebat :D

dead man’s party by TheResurrectionist

Dad’s New Boyfriend by TheClamBeforetheStorm

the difference between stone and skin (is immaterial) by vectacular

hear the future whisper by Anonymous

Mind if I cut in? by Mawiish

The weather is getting warmer, and this weekend has been so nice.  I went out and touched grass twice this week!  There’s a nice little park close to where I live, so I walked around there yesterday.  I was able to get some pictures of robins!  Unfortunately, Batman was nowhere to be seen 😔

The coffee shop I go to updated there seasonal lattes for Spring!  I got a Hibiscus Morning latte to go with my pastry and breakfast sandwich.  Very tasty!

It’s getting more and more green at the arboretum!

Trees and bushes are starting to bud!!

I took the long, rocky path today!  I like how the rocks make the path look like it has steps.

I just thought this pool of water looked neat.

Lots of birds at the bird watch station!  A blue jay, female rose-breasted grosbeak (I think???), robin (again, no Batman around), female red-bellied woodpecker, and male dark-eyed junco.

There was also a white tailed deer hanging around too???  We both looked at each other in shock for a bit, because we surprised each other.  There are fences around this area of the arboretum to keep the deer out because they’ll eat all the pretty flowers.  I have no idea how this guy got in here, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen them in this area of the arboretum.  

[butcherb1rd]

i love my dad. he rescues turtles from busy streets and gets sad when he drives past roadkill. he took me birding for the first time on my birthday. he refills the birdfeeders every week. look at these cool pictures he took in our backyard

[venerablemonk27]

[ID: A portrait of a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. She's shown from the shoulders up, in high detail. Prominent in the frame is her big, dark eye with lines of brown and tan around her head leading to a large, pale pink beak. End ID]

Here's a picture of the most cooperative bird I've encountered in the wild. This past August, I had recently upgraded to a new camera and was on a hike with my Father-in-Law at Antigo Lake. We were slowly walking the boardwalk when I saw something moving in the bushes just on the other side of the railing.

I knew right away that it was a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak because of, you know, the huge beak. She sat just about 6 ft away and held perfectly still, allowing me to find a nice window through the branches and take a few bursts. Even though I was still learning the new equipment, I believe this remains the most detailed picture of a bird I've taken to date. Go ahead and zoom in on the eye. You can pick out all kinds of tiny feather structures that had been totally invisible to me until then, lost in either motion blur or the lower resolution of the sensor. Lately I've been seeking out birds that never sit still or won't go anywhere near people, but I should really spend more time taking portraits of birds that are more comfortable with presence.

[proton-wobbler]

Ooh I have an answer for this!

This is an adult male's non-breeding plumage! They're breeding plumage is that classic black head and crisp contrast between a red-breast and white belly. As they transition into their non-breeding plumage, the males will take on an appearance closer to the females, but with dark brown or black in place of the brown that would be on the female's face. They'll still keep a little bit of that red breast in the center, but their sides will become streaky and a bit brown as well. Young males will usually look just like females during their first fall, except for having the darker brown/black head feathers the same as the older males.

(Photo pulled from my Sibley Guide app)

About two days ago,

I started hearing baby calls of Grosbeaks, Blue Jays and Orioles. Grosbeak babies have a very cute and gentle begging call, almost like a teensy wailing. The young ones look like the females, and male plumage takes quite a while to develop, with some cool patchwork patterns in between. The males’ chest pattern varies in shape, size and vibrancy but usually they all have a fully black head. This guy that came yesterday does not. It is interesting because he otherwise looks like a regular adult male. I am adding two others for comparison. I also like that his chest pattern looks like a heart.

[todaysbird]

birds whose existence defies gender essentialism

bilateral gynandromorph northern cardinal! the left side of this bird’s body is female, and the other side is male. they can still hypothetically reproduce, as birds (mostly) only have one functioning ovary, on the left side!

bilateral gynandromorph rose-breasted grosbeak! the same case as above, just a different species.

chickens. just all chickens. they can just defy our boundaries of sex.

the white-throated sparrow, which is considered to have four sexes!

the ruff, which also has four distinct sexes! their breeding behavior is really unlike any other bird

ducks, which can also change appearance to show plumage associated with the opposite sex!

this is really just a jumping off point since birds don’t conform generally to human expectations for sex and gender - which is fair since they’re often pretty arbitrary!

[missterious-figure]

Okay, I plan on making a new harpy oc that has bilateral gynandromorphism(a condition were an animal has half male and half female traits on it's body), but I'am having a hard time deciding on the bird... I do have three candidates, all of which have been found with this condition.

A rose breasted grosbeak

An American cardinal

Or a green honey creeper

Most likely they would have been bought by the casino because of their rare conditions, but I'll make up more details about them depending on what bird I choose!! Of course, there is no pressure to vote!

[klemannlee]

Rose-breasted Grosbeak female and male. Shy birds today.

[mossypidder]

If you click the names of the birds below, you will find photos of the actual birds I’m referring to; mostly provided because the second two are morphs

EDIT: So honestly. Contrary to final poll results and my initial lean toward the grosbeak, I think I might just go with the crow. The design’s grown on me and in the last week I’ve collected many bones and observed many local crows and found myself just quietly very drawn to them. Nothing’s set in stone, but. . . It feels more right than the grosbeak- there are still things that draw me to the latter, and I still really love them and might switch in the future, right now I relate more to crows I think.

Rose Breasted/Cutthroat Grosbeak (female)

Similarities (between myself and the bird) - small and chunky - eats mainly seeds, fruits, and nuts - elusive and relatively solitary aside from nesting season - very intricate, unique nest type - monogamous - take care of young for a month after fledging (which is longer than quite a few birds) - dwells mainly in deciduous forests - I honestly think I do look a bit like a grosbeak overall - there is limited information on them (which is obnoxious, but kinda goes with my aesthetic honestly)

Things I Like About Them - very pretty markings, especially on face which makes for fun character design - they were my favorite bird as a child and I would get so excited during the brief period that they would be at our feeder

Differences - females don’t sing as much as males - I am very much a mimic- I echo other people’s words as well as animal noises a lot, mostly without thinking, and grosbeaks do not mimic. The males learn songs from their fathers, but that’s different, and I’m not male anyway.

Black Billed Magpie (cinnamon)

Similarities - eat a lot of fruit and grain - they are skilled mimics - mate for life something I aspire to achieve one day - have only been seen in Michigan ten times in the last hundred years, so it fits the “elusive bird who’s sightings should be documented” narrative - parents allow their young to stay with them as long as needed, sometimes even years - males and females are both very vocal and sing, talk, and chatter quite often - wary of new things and will shy away from bright colors and flashing lights (yes, that includes shiny things) - many widely believed myths spread about them (such as tendencies to thievery, attraction to shiny objects, and hoarding things tho I am guilty of that last one)

Things I Like About Them - Gorgeous wings and tail (though rather plain facial markings which is sad) - they’re just nice, funky little guys and they were one of my favorites when I was younger as well

Differences - not a bird I’d really call chunky lol - they eat meat (mostly bugs) and meat is not my favorite honestly - while some do only stay in groups of two, many others have tribe of up to twelve

Common Crow (cinnamon)

Similarities - will bring people they like random bits of things such leaves, rocks, lost keys, and bones, as gifts - stops for roadkill (though I don’t eat it, I’m just there to steal feathers or check opossum pouches for potential surviving babies) - bones is good, we like bones - also talented at imitating human speech, other animals, and just random noises they find intriguing - mate for life - very family oriented and good at taking care of each other. They’ve even been known to adopt unrelated fledglings - stay in the nest up to forty days after hatching and often remain with a family group for two years, helping their parents look after younger siblings - males and females are very vocal - wants to eat rocks - scavengers - likes fruits, nuts, and seeds - seen as weird or gross by the majority - slow to trust humans, but is very loyal once they do - could be considered chunky - cinnamons tend to have blue or silver eyes

Things I Like About Them - they are just. very good. - wing markings of cinnamons are very interesting, and while I’d like more intricacies to work with for facial markings, they’re still good and simple

Differences - they are very social birds (but most of that social time is spent with their family, which is where most of mine is spent as well, so I’m not sure this is a true difference) - consumes a lot of meat (which, as stated, is not my favorite) - they are very common in Michigan and easy to spot almost anywhere

[swede1952]

Colors of the Wild

This rose breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) was around last year about this time. I haven't seen any this year, but I still have hope.

"Bursting with black, white, and rose-red, male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are like an exclamation mark at your bird feeder or in your binoculars. Females and immatures are streaked brown and white with a bold face pattern and enormous bill. Look for these birds in forest edges and woodlands. Listen, too, for their distinctive voices. They sound like American Robins, but listen for an extra sweetness, as if the bird had operatic training; they also make a sharp chink like the squeak of a sneaker." - allaboutbirds.org

[uwmspeccoll]

A Cardinalidae Feathursday

The Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks  (Pheucticus ludovicianus) in our neighborhood have just been chattering away this early summer. The call of the Cardinal is quite distinctive, but we often confuse the call of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak with that of the American Robin. Some say the Grosbeak sounds like a Robin that has had better music lessons, but we have a hard time telling them apart. What do you think?

Both are members of the family Cardinalidae. The only other species in that family that lives in our area (that we know of) is the Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea), which also sounds remarkably like a Robin, but hoarser. The images shown here are from a 1930 painting by American nature artist Walter Alois Weber reproduced in Bird Portraits in Color by the American physician and ornithologist Thomas Sadler Roberts and published by the University of Minnesota Press in the 1934. The volume includes 92 color plates by five wildlife artists illustrating 295 North American species. 

The three birds in the upper left of this plate are winter male, female, and male nestling Rose-breasted Grosbeaks; in the upper right are a fully adult breeding male and first-year breeding male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks; at bottom are adult female and male Cardinals.

View other posts from Bird Portraits in Color.

View more Feathursday posts.

[cruelfeline]

A male cardinal and a female rose-breasted grosbeak.

[amelia-j217]

A beautiful female Rose-breasted Grosbeak we caught for our salmonella study

[sudden-stops-kill]

rose-breasted grosbeak . male v female

[blackmoldmp3]

i think i finally managed to see the male rose breasted grosbeak at our feeder… i was pretty sure one of the birds we’ve seen was a female but i hadn’t spotted a male around so i wasn’t like Certain. and this dude was facing away from the window so i couldn’t actually see if he had a rose coloured breast or not lol but he had black and white in the same patterning

[cassiewolfe]

Just for fun, in order we have:

Blue Jay

Baltimore Oriole

Tree Swallow

American Redstart

Orchard Oriole

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Black-and-White Warbler

American Goldfinch (?)

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

Indigo Bunting

Yellow Warbler

Cedar Waxwing

Northern Cardinal

All are male, with the exception of the Black-and-White Warbler, which is female, and the Blue Jay and Cedar Waxwing, both of which have no easily visible distinguishing marks between males and females.

Cute birds appreciation post

[todaysbird]

this rose-breasted grosbeak was banded by powdermill bird banding during the fall of 2005, during a random wild bird banding of the area. participants were surprised to find the bird to be a bilateral gyandromorph - one side of the body is male, the other female. this is typically due to an event that happens in early mitosis, where one of the dividing cells does not split its sex chromosomes in a typical fashion. interestingly, most birds only have one functional ovary on the left side of the body, so this individual could still hypothetically produce offspring.