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Pinicola enucleator (Linnaeus, 1758)
Pine Grosbeak
Family: Fringillidae

Species account author: Jamie Fenneman
Introduction to the Birds

Photograph

© Mike Ashbee     (Photo ID #8525)

Map


Distribution of Pinicola enucleator in British Columbia.
(Click on the map to view a larger version.)
Source: Distribution map provided by Jamie Fenneman for E-Fauna BC

Species Information

Adult male
Back and scapulars grey with irregular blackish or dark grey streaking or scalloping and often a variable pinkish-red to dark red suffusion (especially in coastal and northeastern populations). Wings blackish-grey with two bold white wing bars and extensive white fringes on the flight feathers (primaries, secondaries, tertials). The rump and uppertail coverts are relatively bright red with blackish feather centres on the uppertail coverts. The notched tail is relatively long and slender and is wholly dark blackish-grey (darker above). The underparts are pale grayish (palest on the undertail coverts) with variable pinkish-red to deeper red on the breast, upper belly, and flanks (usually retaining a grey area up the sides to the sides of the breast); the reddish colouration on the underparts of P.e.montanus is largely restricted to the breast and is not as extensive as in other subspecies. The head is pinkish-red to deeper red throughout, with a grayish-white chin and crescent below the eye, a thin blackish or dark grey line through the eye, and blackish nasal tufts. The iris is dark and the legs and feet are dark grey. The conical bill is short and stubby and has a distinctly curved culmen; it is dark grey to blackish with a paler, horn-coloured base to the lower mandible.

Adult female
The upperparts are grayish with inconspicuous darker grey streaking and scalloping on the back and scapulars. The wings are dark grey with two bold white wing bars and narrow white edges to the flight feathers. The rump and uppertail coverts golden-yellow to greenish-yellow. Tail similar to adult male. Underparts wholly greyish, sometimes with a golden-yellow or greenish-yellow wash on the breast. The crown, nape, and sides of the face are golden-yellow to greenish-yellow, contrasting with the grayish sides of the neck and malar area and whitish-grey chin and throat. The lores and crescent under the eye are whitish-grey and there is a relatively short dark grey line through the eye and narrow, inconspicuous whitish line above the eye. The nasal tufts are blackish. Bare part colouration is as in the adult male.

First-winter immature
This plumage is acquired in the late summer or early fall of the first year and is retained until the following fall. First-winter immatures of both sexes are very similar to the adult female, and first-winter females may be indistinguishable from adult females based on plumage patterns. First-winter males are extremely similar to females, but the head and rump are golden-orange or reddish-bronze rather than yellowish-green. Both sexes tend to show a buffier or brownish-tinged throat in immature plumage that can help differentiate them from adult females.

Juvenile
This plumage is held only briefly, during the summer (June-September) of the first year. Juveniles are overall brownish or buffy, with no scalloping or streaking. The two wing bars and edges of the wing feathers are buffy.

Measurements
Total Length: 23-24 cm
Mass: 54-56 g

Source: Adkisson (1999); Sibley (2000)


Biology

Identification

Both male and female Pine Grosbeaks are easily identified by a combination of their size, shape, and plumage pattern. It is unlikely that this species would ever be confused with any other species under normal circumstances.
Vocalizations

The male’s song is a lazy, warbled series of soft, whistled notes, usually with a descending trend. The song is transcribed as fillip illy dilly didalidoo, and has similarities in tone and pattern to the songs of Purple Finch, Fox Sparrow, and the Pheucticus grosbeaks (Black-headed, Rose-breasted). The male also sings a quiet “whisper song” when in the company of the female that often includes soft imitations of other species. The call notes of this species vary among subspecies. Northern P.e.leucurus gives a lethargic, soft, whistled peew or tee-tee-teew, with vague similarities to the call of the Greater Yellowlegs. Western subspecies, such as montanus, flammula, and carlottae give a harder, huskier, almost warbled series of notes such as quid quid quid or quidip quidip; this call rises in pitch and is often reminiscent of the calls of Cassin’s and Purple Finches. The pattern of this call is vaguely suggestive of the call note of Western Tanager. Other calls include a short, slightly ascending or descending, whistled alarm note and a variety of soft, low contact calls such as ip ip ip or pidididididi.

Source: Adkisson (1999); Sibley (2000)

Bird calls (and videos) from Cornell's Lab of Ornithology
Breeding Ecology

Courtship
Many birds apparently pair up during the winter or early spring, prior to returning to the breeding grounds. Some birds, however, may remain unpaired until later in the spring (May). Behaviours involved with pair formation include billing and courtship feeding.

Nest
Nests of this species are rarely found in B.C. Nest building begins in late May and is completed entirely by the female. The loose, bulky nest is 15-22 cm across and 7-11 cm deep, and is primarily composed of conifer twigs, sometimes with smaller amounts of grasses or rootlets. It is lined with small twigs, rootlets, moss, and grasses. The nest is placed within dense foliage of a conifer, usually near the trunk, at a height of (0.5) 2-4 (6) m.

Eggs
Clutches of (2) 3-4 (5) smooth, moderately glossy eggs are laid between mid-May (rarely late April to early May) and early June and the incubation period is 13-14 days. Only the female incubates the eggs, although the male feeds the female during incubation. The eggs are pale bluish with irregular, often sparse splotches and dots of black, brown, and pale purple that are usually concentrated around the larger end of the egg. Only one clutch of eggs is laid per season. Most eggs in B.C. have hatched by the end of June.

Young
Following hatching, the young remain in the nest for 14-20 days and are fed by both parents. The nestlings are altricial and downy, with grayish-black down that fades to paler brownish-grey after about a week; the mouth is orange and the gape flanges are yellow. Dates for nestlings in B.C. range from early June to mid-July. Following fledging, the young remain flightless for 3-5 days and are tended by both parents for several weeks.

Source: Baicich and Harrison (1997); Adkisson (1999); Campbell et al. (2001)
Foraging Ecology

Seeds, buds, and fruits dominate the diet of the Pine Grosbeak throughout the year. Fruits and berries such as those of juniper, mountain-ash, apples and crabapples, grapes, highbush-cranberry, saskatoons, blackberries, and rose hips are all regularly eaten, especially outside of the breeding season, while seeds of elm, birch, maple, willow, poplar, aspen, and alder are important when they are available. The seeds of many common weeds (ragweed, lamb’s-quarters, burdock) often lead flocks to roadsides and other waste areas in the winter. During the breeding season, the young are fed insects and spiders in addition to vegetable material. The Pine Grosbeak commonly frequents bird feeders during the winter months. Foraging birds occur singly or in pairs during the breeding season, but usually form small to medium-sized flocks during the non-breeding season.

Source: Adkisson (1999)

Habitat


Throughout most of B.C., this species breeds in subalpine and montane forests at middle to high elevations as well as in coniferous and mixed boreal forests at lower elevations in northern B.C. Birds breeding on the Queen Charlotte Islands also occur at low elevations in coastal coniferous forests of cedar and hemlock. In most of B.C., this species is largely restricted to moist coniferous forests of spruce and fir, especially near open areas such as subalpine parkland, burns, forest edges, wetlands, clearcuts, and open early seral stands. In northernmost parts of the province, this species commonly breeds in Lodgepole Pine stands at lower elevations. It occurs much more widely during the winter months, regularly occurring throughout lower elevation habitats. Winter habitats include remote coniferous forests at all elevations, as well as residential areas, riparian thickets, and deciduous woodlands at lower elevations, especially where there is an abundance of food resources (fruits, seeds). Wintering birds on Vancouver Island often occur on open hilltops in association with fruiting Arbutus trees.

Source: Adkisson (1999); Campbell et al. (2001)

Distribution

Global Range

The Pine Grosbeak is a circumboreal species, ranging across northern portions of both North America and Eurasia. Within North America, it is resident across the boreal forest from Alaska east to Newfoundland, as well as south through the western mountains to California, Colorado, and New Mexico. It regularly irrupts southwards or to lower elevations in winter, especially in eastern North America.
BC Distribution

Breeding
Uncommon to fairly common breeder, primarily at high elevations, across northern and central British Columbia west to the Coast Mountains, although very rare in summer at low elevations east of the Rocky Mountains. Uncommon at high elevations in the south-central interior west to the Coast and Cascade Mountains, and fairly common at high elevations in southeastern B.C. Uncommon on the Queen Charlotte Islands and along the northern and central mainland coast. Rare and sporadic presumed breeder on northern and central Vancouver Island.

Winter
Fairly common to common in winter throughout the interior west to the Coast and Cascade Mountains, although uncommon at low elevations of the Okanagan Valley. Rare to uncommon along the northern and central coast, including the Queen Charlotte Islands. Rare and irregular (uncommon in some years) on the south coast, including Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. Winter abundance along the coast and, to a lesser extent, across much of the southern interior varies from year to year.

Migration and Vagrancy
This species typically moves to lower elevations in October and November and returns to high elevation breeding grounds in March. The Pine Grosbeak is primarily an altitudinal migrant in B.C., and regularly undergoes small to pronounced irruptions throughout the province. Irruptive events are linked to variations in the seed and berry crops, with birds vacating large areas during years of low food resources. Irruptive events at low elevations in the southern interior occur every 2-3 years, while those along the coast are less frequent and of a smaller magnitude.

Source: Adkisson (1999); Campbell et al. (2001)

Conservation

Population and Conservation Status

Populations of Pine Grosbeak appear to be stable throughout most of its range, although some declines have been noted in eastern North America. This species does not have federal (COSEWIC [Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada]) or provincial (B.C. CDC [Conservation Data Centre]) status as a threatened or endangered species, but the carlottae subspecies is blue-listed provincially due to its limited distribution and relatively small population.

Taxonomy


Nine subspecies of Pine Grosbeak are recognized throughout its circumboreal range, with six of these occurring in North America (one as a vagrant). Four subspecies are found in British Columbia. Although the breeding ranges of the four subspecies are relatively discrete, wintering individuals wander widely and often range outside of the usual breeding range. As a result, wintering birds may not necessarily be of the local breeding population. This species has reportedly hybridized with Purple Finch in North America, despite these species belonging to different genera.

The four subspecies occurring in B.C. are as follows:

Pinicola enucleator leucurus (Muller)
This subspecies is found in northeastern B.C. east of the Rocky Mountains, primarily during the non-breeding season, and likely wanders throughout the northern and central interior of B.C. in the winter. Western populations (including those in B.C.) were formerly recognized as P.e.alascensis Ridgway, but these populations appear to be part of a cline across the boreal forest and are now included in the widespread taiga subspecies leucurus. Males of this subspecies have more extensive reddish colouration on the body than adjacent populations of P.e.montanus and are paler than either of the two coastal subspecies (carlottae, flammula).

Pinicola enucleator montanus Ridgway
This subspecies is found throughout the mountainous portions of the interior, from northern B.C. south to the U.S. border, west to the Coast and Cascade Mountains and east to the Rocky Mountains. It averages slightly smaller (~15%) than adjacent populations of P.e.leucurus and the male has more extensive grey on the body.

Pinicola enucleator flammula (Homeyer)
This subspecies occurs primarily in southeastern Alaska but ranges into adjacent regions of northwestern B.C. south to the Skeena River (inland locally along major river corridors such as the Stikine, Skeena, Bulkley). Wintering birds apparently wander south to southern and central portions of the mainland coast and Vancouver Island. Male flammula average more orange-tinged and females average yellower than corresponding plumages of either leucurus or montanus. This subspecies also averages larger-billed than either of these subspecies.

Pinicola enucleator carlottae Brooks
This species is resident on the Queen Charlotte Islands, but some individuals may wander south along the coast to the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island in the winter. Small numbers of birds that apparently breed on Vancouver Island and along the central mainland coast may also be P.e.carlottae, but this has not been confirmed. This is the smallest and darkest subspecies.

Source: Pyle (1997); Adkisson (1999); Campbell et al. (2001)

Status Information

Scientific NameOrigin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
Pinicola enucleatorNativeS5YellowNot Listed
Pinicola enucleator carlottaeNativeS3BlueNot Listed



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