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April 15, 1961 - The Evening Grosbeak THE EVENING GROSBEAK (Hesperophona respertina) Original Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis PulestoN Brookhaven Focus on Nature In an attempt to bring you many views on Nature we are going to ask guest writers to do this column from time to time. This week our guest writer is Mr Arthur Cooley, who teaches science in the Bellport School. By Arthur Cooley Ever since Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot began the f i r s t large scale conservation movement in the United States, all of us have been deluged with campaigns to prevent the extinc- tion of many species of animals and plants. Unfortunately, these requests have been well founded. It is then a pleasure to find one member of nature's commun- ity that has been able to increase its number despite the detriment- al effects of n,an. While the Bald Eagle; our national symbol, is in danger of extinction, the Evening Grosbeak, the topic for today's article, has been on the increase in the northeastern ppart of -the United States. The Evening Grosbeak gets its somewhat misleading name from an early collector who thought that these birds dwelt in the dark woods and on I y came out to sing in the early evening hours. Readers. who maintain bird feeders through- out the winter might wish its name changed to one that would better describe its arrival at the feeder early in t h e morning. Its call, much like that of a glorified English . Sparrow, an- nounces its presence just after dawn. In fact, one gentleman in New England claims to be able to set his watch each morning at 6:30 a m when the first of his Grosbeaks come for their morn- ing meal. The male Evening Grosbeak is a handsome and striking bird about the size of a starling. Its bright yellow body and b l a c k and white wings present a vivid sight against the snow. The fe- male, as is the case with most birds, is duller but has the black and white wins. The Grosbeaks have a large conical bill which they use with infinite skill to consume large ,quantities of sunflower s e e d s. They are very aggressive and will drive most other birds from the feeder until they have eaten enough. Then they retire to the 'tree tops to sit and absorb the warmth of the morning sun. A number of people who have been active in banding grosbeaks tell us that it is most difficult to handle these birds without risking minor wounds about the hands from their strong, sharp bills. When "they have been con- by Paul Stoutenburg fined in close quarters the have been known to attack one another and in some instances have even bitten themselves. Because of their voracious ap- petite and aggressiveness some people have enquired as to the best way to discourage t h e s e birds from coming to their feed- ers. One woman in Pennsylvania, with some obvious displeasure, wrote that she saw one female Evening Grosbeak eat 66 sun- flower seeds at one sitting. While these two attributes may work in their disfavor, those of us who have had the pleasure of seeing these colorful winter visi- tors come to the feeder have been more than repaid for the cost of the food. The Evening Grosbeak sum- mers in the spruce woods in Ca- nada, north and west of Michigan. Here they build nests of twigs and rootlets in the spruce trees. Their eggs are bluish and heavily marked with gray, olive green and brown. When the duties of breeding and rearing the oung are completed, the grosbeaks be- gin a southeastern migration which brings them into our part of the United States in late fall. While the earliest visitors may arrive in November, most of the individuals do not arrive u n t i l Christmas time. Much of the knowledge about their migration habits has been learned from banding. One misin- formed Canadian thought that each one of the bands was valua- ble and that the bird was to be sihot and the band recovered. This provided some valuable informa- tion but as soon as the man was found this practice was stopped, much to the relief, we may pre- sume, of the Grosbeak population. Prior to 1890 this species was practically unknown in the New York area. It was not until the early years of this century that scattered flocks of these birds began to make their way into the northeast at irregular intervals. Before 1942 the Evening Gros- beaks were known to leave by the end of March and certainly by the middle of April all were gone. Since that time not only have they stayed later in the spring but they have come in increasing numbers. This influx reached an apex in the h u g e numbers of individuals that came to the northeast and particularly to Long Island in the winter of 1959 -60. While the great numbers of that winter were not equalled t h i s winter, we were still fortunate in seeing many Grosbeaks. T h o s e who wish to attract these brilliant birds need only provide sunflower seeds at an appropriate feeder. Cutchogue It may, however, take a f e w years for them to find your feed. er. The birds seem to have a definite attraction to feeders and are seldom seem very far from a window or back yard feeder. On Long Island, as in o t h e r parts of the country, home bird feeding is on the increase. Be- cause of this, and because of the Grosbeak's affinity for feeders we may expect the increase in the numbers of these birds to continue, since tlhe major gov- erning factor in the size of the Evening Grosbeak population is its supply of winter food. should therefore be gratifying those readers who provide fo for our winter birds that the efforts have resulted in a ne and beautiful winter visitor this part of Long Island. (Next Week — Paul will back with instructions on builing of bird houses and feeder Send him your observations Box 720, Riverhead.) FIELD OBSERVATIONS: PINE WARBLERS — Yaphank woods (D Puleston) April 8 PURPLE MARTINS — Hard's, Shirley (D Puleston) April 8 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS — Ya- phank Woods (D Puleston) April 8 FISH CROWS (2) Quogue Sanc- tuary ( Bellport HS group) April 9 TRAILING ARBUTUS in blos- som — Yaphank woods (J Pules- ton) April 8 MARSH MARIGOLD in blos- som — Bayard Cutting (A Cooley) April 9.