Even without knowing the full origins of the word “grosbeak” you can probably guess it refers to a critter with a large beak. And anyone who has seen any species of grosbeaks in Maine knows well how the birds got their name. 

All of the grosbeaks have thick, wide-based bills that are particularly well-suited for eating seeds, berries, and fruit. In the summer in Maine, we have the rose-breasted grosbeak with its big, ivory-colored bill; the males are black and white with a blood-red spot on their breasts. 

People who have never seen one often mistake that spot for blood. Nature centers get calls every spring from people who think they have an injured bird in their backyard when they see their first rose-breasted grosbeak. These “summer residents” are now in Central or South America, where they will spend the winter.

Taking their place this fall and winter in Maine, and much of the northeastern U.S., are two other grosbeaks: the evening Grosbeak and the pine grosbeak. Many bird enthusiasts remember decades ago when backyard bird feeders were often inundated with dozens (sometimes even hundreds) of the chunky, yellow and black evening grosbeaks. 

Looking a bit like an oversized American goldfinch, evening grosbeaks breed in small numbers in spruce-dominated landscapes of coastal and northern Maine, although the most extensive part of their range extends across the boreal forest from maritime Canada to Alaska. 

In the West, they also occur in upper-elevation mountain habitats all the way down into Mexico and Central America. This year in Maine, after more than 20 years of virtual absence (or at least very small numbers) birders are reporting flocks of dozens again throughout much of the state. These large numbers of birds are presumed to be coming largely from some part of their Canadian or Alaskan breeding range.

Pine grosbeaks are misleadingly named as far as we can tell, as they don’t seem to have any affinity for pine trees or pine-dominated habitats at all. In the summer they are found in spruce and fir forests of Canada and Alaska (an occasional few nest in northern Maine) and in high-elevation Rocky Mountain forests to New Mexico. 

In most years, pine grosbeaks remain in their northern haunts all year long but occasionally – and this is one of those occasions – they come down in flocks to grace us with their winter presence. The robin-sized pine grosbeak doesn’t have the same massive bill as the evening and rose-breasted grosbeaks. Its bill, while still rather thick, is more curved and finer-pointed, which comes in handy as it chews up crab apples, one of their favorite foods in the years when they arrive here in Maine. 

Pine grosbeaks are often famously tame, allowing well-behaved people to approach rather closely, apparently relying on their subtle coloration for camouflage. This makes sense for the females and immature birds, which are largely gray with some subtle tan colors on the head. The males are a fairly bright, rosy color. 

To invite evening grosbeaks into your yard, keep your feeders filled. Black oil sunflower seeds, especially placed on the “welcome mat” of a platform feeder (and safely out of reach of any neighborhood cats) work best. 

To see pine grosbeaks, scan those crab apple trees next time you’re on your way to the post office or grocery store. One glimpse of either of these gorgeous and unusual species and you’ll see why “big beaks” are a big deal this season.

Dr. Jeff Wells is the senior scientist for the Boreal Songbird Initiative. During his time at the famed Cornell Lab of Ornithology and as the Audubon Society's national bird conservation director, Dr. Wells earned a reputation as one of the nation's leading bird experts and conservation biologists. Jeff's grandfather, the late John Chase, was a columnist for the Boothbay Register for many years. Allison Childs Wells, also formerly of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is a widely published natural history writer and a senior director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Together, they have been writing and teaching people about birds for decades. The Maine natives are authors of the highly acclaimed book, “Maine's Favorite Birds.”