pheucticus (inclined to avoid, retiring) chrysopeplus (golden-robed)
Huerfano County, Colorado — Reagan Road
Saturday, May 29, 2021 — 9:51 am
Yellow Grosbeaks live along the western edge of Mexico. They occasionally wanders north into Arizona, and there are a few sightings from New Mexico and Texas. I don’t believe one has ever been seen in Colorado — or anywhere else this far north.
But one was spotted yesterday at somebody’s feeder in rural Huerfano County, about 25 miles south of Pueblo and 4 miles east of I-25. Access wasn’t available before 9:00 am. I arrived around 9:15 and found about 20 birders there before me. They packed the porch and were overflowing into the yard on both sides of the house. A steady parade of Black-headed Grosbeaks, Blue Grosbeaks, Bullock’s Orioles, Lewis’s Woodpeckers, and a variety of other species kept us entertained.
The Yellow Grosbeak had been seen earlier in the morning, and there was a fair degree of optimism that it would return. After I’d waited about 35 minutes, a woman saw it fly in and land in a cottonwood. The bird perched among the leaves for three or four minutes, looking at the large crowd that had gathered.
It flew to a couple other branches, creeping ever closer to the feeder it preferred. It made one final stop on a dead branch just off the porch.
It then flew to a hanging sunflower feeder and ate quietly for 8 or 10 minutes. I was able to move to an angle where the light was good. Except when flying, it was a very quiet bird, perching in one place for minutes at a time, looking slowly around, and eating seeds without any unnecessary motion.
The consensus among birders is that the grosbeak is a male born last year. It has dark marks on its back and head, but not as many as would be expected on a female.
It took off and flew low across the yard, giving us great views of the black-and-white wings and tail and the bright yellow body. It looked something like a giant American Goldfinch. It was a beautiful bird — one that wasn’t on my radar to see and that I’ll likely never see again. I’m definitely glad I made the trip.
Update: I did see one again. One showed up in late February at a ranch feeder in Northwest Colorado. The homeowners charged $25 to go on their property and see it, which they had every right to do. It almost dissuaded me from going, but I was in a “chasey” mood, and so I made the trip. I paid my money and stood around with perhaps 20 other birders until it finally showed up to forage under the feeders. It looked very much like the Colorado bird.
