Since Christmas is almost here, I’ve been thinking about, listening to and singing Christmas songs. One song I love, but think is pretty sad is “A Blue Christmas”. Everything in the lyrics is “blue.” “I’ll have a blue Christmas without you. I’ll be so blue just thinking about you....blue snowflakes, blue memories...” I listened to Elvis sing it, but today we might think of Michael Buble.
To make a long story shorter (smile), the “blue” Christmas song made me think of a very rare photo that I took of a Blue Grosbeak. It was the first of the two times that I have seen one in my yard.
Each year Rose Breasted Grosbeaks come to my feeders in the spring, but a Blue Grosbeak sighting has been really infrequent! The first sighting of this bird was about five years ago. I had only been photographing birds for a short period and I snapped the photo shown. Little did I know that it would be another three years before I saw another one!
As it turns out Blue Grosbeaks only come through our area during the time that they return to North America from migration. Even though they are seldom seen around Senatobia, they are not considered rare. They have a stable population of about 20 million!
As with most birds, the Grosbeak that is colorful is the male. The male Blue Grosbeak has deep blue feathers with two rust-colored stripes on his wings. The female has body feathers that are a mixture of medium brown and rust stripes on her wings.
The name Grosbeak means “largebeak.” There is usually a prefix name in front of “Grosbeak” to let you know specifically the species. The DNA of the Blue Grosbeak puts it into the category of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Northern Cardinal and Scarlet Tanager. But, I found it interesting that the Evening Grosbeak (though similar in appearance) isn’t in the same DNA pool. The Evening Grosbeak is “in’ the finch family, but the Blue Grosbeak is considered “finch-like”.
The Blue Grosbeak lives in brushy habitats...probably why I have seen it in my yard. As with most beautifully colored birds that come through my yard in the spring, I wish that they didn’t just pass through.
The second time that I saw a Blue Grosbeak in my yard, I wasn’t certain that it was a Grosbeak. At first look the blue of his feathers appear an indigo blue color. Until I examined my photos, I thought the bird that I had photographed was a molting Indigo Bunting. The Indigo Bunting is in the same Passerina genus family as the Blue Grosbeak. Even though the blue color is very similar on both, the Blue Grosbeak is larger in size and weight (almost double) and different in his feathering on its wings. The rust stripe on the wing is the most noticeable difference. The beak color is the same on both birds - which is silver.
Grosbeaks are insect, invertebrates, and berry and seed eaters. Though I haven’t read that they eat peanut butter, jelly or suet, I think that I had both peanut butter and jelly out that first year when they came to my yard.
The internet says that they are songbirds and that the male sings to attract the female. I listened to the recording of its song on abcbirds.com. I’m not sure I’ve heard their singing, but I was very new at bird watching that first year when I took its photo.
According to tn.gov - Tennessee began in 1945 to have the Blue Grosbeak stay in their state from April until the end of September. Then they fly south and go into Mexico and Central America for the winter.
My thoughts often pair up unusual things as it did with “Blue Christmas” and “Blue Grosbeaks”, but then I enjoy the unusual. Remain calm, enjoy the Christmas season and remember to “Look at the birds of the air...” Matthew 6:26.
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