Black-headed Grosbeak Sings!

BirdNote^® 
Black-headed Grosbeak Sings! 
Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.

          [Black-headed Grosbeak song]

A lilting, brightly whistled song erupts from a source hidden by the leaves of a tall alder tree. The song continues, but where the heck is the singer?

         [Black-headed Grosbeak song]

At last a bird appears atop the alder, still singing. It’s a stocky, orange bird with a black head, a large, thick bill, and bold white blazes on its black wings. You’ve just found a male Black-headed Grosbeak!

         [Black-headed Grosbeak song]

Its song rings out from May well into summer, one of the most distinctive bird voices of the West and Southwest. The song has been described as that of a drunken or scat-singing robin. It does slur some of its notes and the song does have a syncopated feel to it. 

Why not draw your own conclusion? Here’s the lovely but more methodical song of the American Robin--

         [American Robin singing]

And now the up-tempo performance of the Black-headed Grosbeak--

         [Black-headed Grosbeak song]

Listen for the rollicking song of the Black-headed Grosbeak this summer, especially in streamside woods. Its singer could have come all the way from Southern Mexico.

         [Black-headed Grosbeak song]

For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.

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Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
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Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Song of Black-headed Grosbeak [126546] recorded by T. Sander; Song of American Robin [105684] recorded by G.A. Keller. BirdNote's theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.

© 2014 Tune In to Nature.org  June 2018 / 2019 / 2025 
Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# BHGR-01b-2019-6-12        BHGR-01b