More Pine Grosbeaks

Juvenile Pine Grosbeak. Photo by Linda Clavelle

My sister Linda contributed today's photos of a rusty-colored juvenile Pine Grosbeak at the feeder outside her dining room window in the pines just north of Prince Albert. Isn't it amazing how a bit of bright color on a bird can be such a treat for our color-hungry winter eyes?

At our feeders this winter, our regular visitors are Black-capped chickadees, House Sparrows and Common Redpolls. This morning, there were several Hoary Redpolls hopping around under the feeder, too. The Hoary guys have white rumps/lower backs, fewer streaks on the sides and are lighter looking overall as though they were coated with hoar frost. We seem to have far more Common Redpolls than the frosty kind.

Redpolls, incidentally, are closely related to Pine Grosbeaks and Crossbills.

Another bird with a red badge of courage at our winter feeder occasionally is the Hairy Woodpecker. The male has a red spot on the back of his head that seems to blink like a traffic signal. The female is just black and white. I get a kick out of watching a Hairy try to get at sunflower seeds in the tower feeder, clinging to a roost post on one side while stretching around to hammer at seeds in an opening on the adjacent side.

My friend Clistine called me the other day to tell me about magpie doing the same thing at their feeder. She said it had to flail its wings wildly to keep its balance. She said this reminded her of me saying that I thought magpies were the inspiration was garden whirligigs with their wooden wings that rotate like propellors.