BIRD-BANDING

A JOURNALOF ORNITHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION

Vol. XXVII October, 1956 No. 4

EASTERN

EVENING

GROSBEAK
Part I

SUMMER

RECORDS*

SURVEY OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW ENGLANDA,ND

NEW YORK, 1954 AND 1955

By Mary S. Shrub

The Eastern Evening Grosbeak,Hesperiphona vespertins, v. has, during the last few years, become such a commonwinter visitor that

the initial excitement .observing of thesecolorfuland noisybirdshas

all but died down; however, interest summer ,the in nesting records with more and more reportsfarther southeachyear is causing not a li.ttle stir amongornithological. investigators.In a ,previous paper in Bird. banding(25:87-95, July, 1954) the authorattempted draw together to all reportedrecordsof nestingor observations EveningGrosbeaks of duringthe summer months, to and including up 1953. With additional records sincethen,it seems appropriate tbul. these to ate data or 1954
and 1955. NEW BRUNSWICK 1954

Althoug the Plaster h Rockarea and several points alongthe Little T6bique Riverto thenorthandnortheast not renortEvening did Grosbeaks duringthe summer 1954,therewasa concentration interest of of in this species the Green River watershed northwestern in in New Brunswick. S. MacDougall, D. whowasassociated the GreenRive with Laboratory withheadquarters Summit at Depot, made extensive observationsduringthe summer and offered following the report: "The Green RiverLaboratory itselfis thecenter a project of currently involved .the in studyof the spruce budworm (Choristoneura ]umi/erana (clem)) and is locatedin the far northwest cornerof New Brunswick. The foresttypeshereare largely,boreal Laurentian, formerin and the
the more northern areas,.thelatter in the soathern. A certain amount

of bird surveywork is carriedon for this project and the Evening Grosbeak comesunder our legal jurisdiction this respect. The in Evening Grosbeak atracted groing amount interest has a of due to itssudden increase ,breeding in numbers .axeas in underspruce budworm
attack, both in New Brunswickand Ontario....

*Contribution 18from Shaub No. the Ornithological Research SLation.

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Bird-Banding

October

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"Spring arrivals began April 25 but no grosbeaks sighted on were

until May 8, when two malesand four femaleswere seennear our

laboratory buildings. FromthatdateuntilMay26 thenumbers present in thisvicinity ranged fromtwoto eightor ten,usually flocks in predominantly female withoccasional paired birds evidence. in However,
afterMay 20 theirflocks wereof a moreeven ratio,andwereevident sex all over Green the [liver watershed takingin an areaof 250 square miles. "On May 26 a largeflockof abouttwentyin number appeared with a sex ratio of 50:50 and more continued arrive daily with a slow to buitd..up numbers in until therewe're between and 30 by June10th. 26 "Sometime between June 12 and 16 femaleattendance our feeding at

location stopped completely not until June27 wasthereevidence and of anyfemales returning, thenonlyin verysmall and numbers compared with the males..Smallflocks to eightor ten birdswerethe only up evidence the presence the species almost mon.th of .of for a afterthe reappearance the females, then with very mixedratios. of and "OnJuly29 thefirstjuvenal recorded, littleunsteady the was a on

wing, accomplished to carryongood 'but enough steady flight. From thisday on activity around laboratory our buildings grewunti}there were many so small groups from3 to 10birds with flying around it that was next impossiblegetanestimate their'numbers. to to of "Fromthe first of August activitywasquitesteady a high level at except wheninterrupted bad weather.The noise by theymadehere was.almost annoying times, at their quavering cal.ls coming from every majorpointof thecompass during peakperiod the day. During the of

theseactivehours,usuallyfrom dawnto middayor sometimes later, the.birds wereverynervous seemed excited, and very neverremaining in 'one place anylength time. Thisperiod greatactivity for of of and excitement corresponded the appearance the youngand conwith of tinueduntilthe birdsbegan disappear to about middle August. the of Young wereseen being pin cherries the adults }ateasAugust fed by as 10 althoughall birds were strongfliers from August1 on in my
estimation.

"AfterAugust .their 16 numbers began decline to slowly, calling died

down, and .what flockswere stil.1 around seemedlarger in size. By

August the numbers werenegligible August wasthe last 25 here and 27 record for the summer. Insofar as sightings were rec.orded daily

previously,believe can'be.taken granted I it for they had left their

breedinggroundsin t'hisarea. "Mr. D. G. Mort has done a considerable amountof flying this year

in connection the spruce with budworm, the 300-500-foot at level,and he reports the Evening that Grosbeak evident was overmuchof this
northwestern sector New Brunswick.This, alongwith a number of of

ground records, suggests the Evening that Grosbeak heavily is distributedoverthe entirearea. On a one-day to the headwaters trip of the MiramichiRiver in centralNew Brunswick(July) we recorded

several grosbeaks, suggests breeding which their range extends eastward

at leastto that area.. How far southfrom there is a question.

"Their }argebreeding rangein New Brunswick quitesignificant is in thatthe firstsummer record this vicinitywasin 1951,onlythree for

years ago,when appearance onebird, a banded at t.hat, the of one

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SttAUI, Grosbeak Records Bird-Banding Evening Summer

October

caused quitea flurry of interest here. This corresponds quitewell with the growthof the spruce budworm infestation this area. Whether in
there is a coincidenceor a connectionbetween the two is open to

question.

"Information to the EveningGrosbeak's .as naturalfood is rather scanty. I sawthemfeeding balsam in foliageat a periodwhenthe
budshadjust bursttheir coverings earlyspring, whattheywere in but feeding I do not know (I assume wasthe buds). DuringMay on it andearlyJune theyfed largely theground, on along dirt roads andin

Pin Cherry groves, I could but find notthe slightest of anything sign edible afterchasing off. Minerals them must forma largepartof their diet. Our feeding location herewaskeptattractive the spring in ,by saltand suet, aftermating 'but waslargelyovertheir desire-for sak stopped, 27 being lastdate which were July t.he on they seen feeding at ourlo,cation. was beautiful (It a sight during period the when only' the visitors males, see flock 15 or more were to a of packed closely together,

feeding thesalt. When were on they start.led wo,uld asa body they rise in a flurryof whitewings andbrownish-yellow bodies, perch to in
nearbytreesuntil the source disturbance passed of had on.) "To giveanother example minerals theirdiet,whileon a ts-ip of in to

t.he Gounamity Riverin Julywenoticed number Evening a of Grosbeaks, PurpleFinches PineSiskins and acting verysuspiciously around the ruinsof an oldmill. Onexamining ruinsmorecarefully, the suspecting nests, found we nothing which would a source'of r.action these be att. to three finches, except, possibly,great of fine,finesoot a pile beneath the rusted boilers. Through process elimination Mott and I a of Mr. arrivedat theconclusion thismustbe the big attraction, t.hat although it is notfounded factby .any on means.Whatsurprised wasthe me .boldness apparent and annoyance shown all.three by species birds. of Whilesitting the darkness thesoot. in on beneath ,boilers the several birds within flew several inches myface, there of but were absolutely no
nests there.

"TheEvening Grosbeaks began feedon pin cherries the vicinity to in of August when cherries 6 the began redden.During period to this their cl. osest associates Cedar were Waxwings.The sound snapping of seeds from the cherrygroves as a day-long occurrence between two the

species. Whileobserving Evening Grosbeaks closely day,I noticed one theircurious method eating cherries. cherry plucked of pin The is off, pushed through ,beak one t.o other, pulp, .the from side the the skin and jui,ce squeezed one out side, theseed and itself kept to be.broken in, with
a sharpsnapbeforeswallowing.

ranges .amap these quite on that .are extensive, thatthe,birds and may
travel longdistances flocks feedin clearings." in to
MAINE, 1954

"I havefoundby tryingto plot'Evening Grosbeak nesting areas or

At BigLyford Pond, Kodadjo, Maine, IvanShermari Mrs. observed Evening Grosbeaks summers inthe of1950, and 1952 1953.ByJune 28,
1954 hadseen maleoften she a nearth camp several and times observed

two pairs grosbeaks themiddle June. male noted of ,until of A was several during first weeks July.Mrs. times the two of Bernice Young

Vol.

XXVII

1956

5ItAUB, Evening Grosbeak Su,,,mer Records

[161

of May in Greenville. The flockvariedfrom 6 to 50 birdsand remained

hada large flock Evening of Grosbeaks feeding start about middle the

parents.Theywouldsit on the edgeof the box whilethe olderbird

untilthefirstweek June..Later thesummer brought of in they their young thefeeder to although j uvenals nearly largeasthe the were as

Evening Grosbeaks remained a half hour at the SouthBranch that for

lain. Around 18thof August AxelTi,bbetts the Mrs. observedlarge a flock males females Rangeley thebirds of and at but were noted only for a week. On August 9th Mrs. Merle Scottrecorded pair of one

would crack sunflower open feed lneat thejuvenal. seeds and the to They remainedtothe ofAugust a squirrel tobother up first when .'began thebirds apparently and frightened away.At Presque the them Isle Evening Grosbeak reported a summer was as resident Glen by Chamber-

Ponds Campsite of Mt. Katahdin were seen north but not again that
summer.

iN-EW HAMPSHIRE, 1954

Between 1standAugust July 30tha number local.ities New of in

it. Theadults were noted eating chokecherries ,black and cherries and wereseen onthefollowing also day. On August 26th.a maleandtwo young vere Observed. August twogrosbeaks observed On 30th vere in anopen near field NewHampton Mrs.Richard by Hebert.At North

Hampshire reported Evening Grosbeaks: Colebrook, August 20 5th, birds reported Katherine Dickson; July1stone by C. on male two and females seen lackson Rachel Doucette; Monroe, were at by R. at Mrs. EarlD. Huntsaw male August. andheard one on 22nd another bird; onthe24th observed and she a pair three which have grown must been young one and young flutte'redwings befed,but is to neither fed adult

Woodstockbirds 50 were noted numbdr times a of from August 15th by'Madeline Carter.OnJuly 19th pairwas ,by Danforths a seen the at Pittsburg onJul, 20theight and y were recorded thesame from locality by A. andN. Scott. At Waterville Valley eight wereseen August on 19th five.on 27thbyMiss and the Sarah Woodward; in August J. and a male grosbeak identi,fied Wentworth Kathleen was at by McDade.
VERMONT, 1954

A great ofactivity reported this deal was from state.OnAugust 14th Herbert Congdon onemalein Arlington a farmer saw and near-by reported three been that had around summer.. all During summer the there evidence possibly pairs was tha.t two vere nesting Chester near andonJuly11thand12th adult two males brought juvenals three to thefeeder Henry Crocker. of F. George Davis, W._ Vermont and Fish
GameDirector,saw several grosbeaks Granvillein June. Mrs. at,

laterbrought theiryoung thefeeders. June to In Evening Grosbeaks

werereported from PlymouthUnionand later in the monthG. W. Davis

Edwin Brooks estimated five that pairs were nesting Landgrove in and

sawthe species Ripton. In July it wasreported at that an adultwas seen feeding young a ,birdon the lawn of Hrbert Allenin Rochester

(fideDowns). On Julylh,h MissEliza.beth sawtwomales, Ball one female o,e and probably immat. feeding tamaracks herhouse ure on near in Rutland. Maurice Brounreported two families Evening that of

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$aaun, Evening Grosbeak Summer Records 13ird-lgandmg October

Grosbeaks recorded Jane early were in and Jul.y theBates at Farmin Sherburne. June T. S.Fillebro.wn a pairofadult On 11th saw grosbeaks in Sherburne, onJuly11th and Elizabeth Gillinghatn L. ovserved wo adults twoyoung and birds a treeneartheLongTrail Lodge in at Sherburne Pass. The sumner records South for Londonderry are given detailin Part II of thispaper. Mrs.James in Downs o,bserved twonales twofemales miles and four south Waterbury June of on 8th andonthestone shesawtwomales onefemale outside day and just
Warren where Evening the Grosbeaks alsobeen had reported June. in AboutJune1stgrosbeaks notedin the rdadin West were Braiatree by
at thislocality.

Mrs.John Dumas, H. apparently eating in thedirt. Flocks 40 salt of to 50 were seen during sure,net lateryoung the and birds were observed
h-zw YO}t}z, 1954

From Bolton Landing Mildred Barber Mrs. A. wrote Evening that Grosbeaks seen ,were daily after April8thandbyJune 18that least six pairs were eating sunflower onherfrontdoorsteps. July12th seeds On Dr. Malcolm McMartin noted young a Evening Grosbeak a lawn on between Canada LakeandFulton Lake. Mrs. Raymond Mil.ls wrote fromEdinburg July14th, fewdays I heard on "A ago three then and
saw pair.ofthebirdsbusily a feeding theirinsistent young cherries pin -- notsunflower thatwehadonthefeeding seeds stations. Theyoung have 'where' a sound when begforfood, unlike other they so any ,birds' young know. We are ontheSacandaga I Reservoir, artificial an lake about sizeof LakeGeorge.Thebirdsare still hereafterseveral the days seven -birdsat least." Although Evening Grosbeaks not did frequent feeders Mrs.Lindsay the of McPhail IndianLake,shedid at hear and seethe species from time to time towards end of June the resting thetopsof thepinetreesnearher cottage.At Little Wol[ in Pond which located is north thetownofTupper of LakeP. Paquette noted
onemale on July 4th. Mrs. GeraldFitzgerald reported EveningGros-

beaks summer at Mayfield young all long and being ,were fed observed by Mr. Hallen,beck. Nc,rthRiver Mrs. EmmaRogers At recorded a family of Evening Grosbeaks, parents and three youngin early June andtwobirdsin August. FromPiseco Robert Christie, writes, Jr., "In 1.ate Juneand early July the half dozen nesting pairswe had in the vicinitybrought their youngto our feeding station, stayed with them
for a weekor soandthent. .offfor partsunknown, ook leaving young the behind. These uvenals, of them,stayed j 18 arounduntil the middleof September, then they too disappeared we saw none until early and wifiter." AlthoughGreenleaf ,Chase Saranac, of Lake did not havetime to checkon breedingterritorieshe did observe abundance an of

EveningGrosbeaks duringthe summer and was convinced the that species nested approximately samearea as in 1953. Juvenal in ,the
,birds appeared the feeding at. station June23rd andcontinued appear to

until early O,ctober. The old birdswereinfrequently seenafter the endof August in themonth September population made and of the was up of jurehals.On July14thMrs.WalterFrank,Jr., sawa male Evening Grosbeak feeding a bigcedar in heryardat Trenton. in tree

1956 'Vol. XXII

SHAL'B, Grosbeak Records Evening Summer

NEW BRUNSWICK,1955

[163

Unfortunately observations not madein the GreenRiver water were shedas in the previous year and sothe status the Evening of Grosbeak in that part of the provincefor the summerof 1955 hasnot beenevaluated. However,a summer report from Fredericton of considerable is significance. Mrs. lq. G. Thextono,bserved birds on August12th 14 near the city. Shewrites,"I thoughtat the time it wasprobablytwo families. Someweredefinitely adul'ts. When I first spotted them,the entireflockwason a gravelroad. For a minuteor so I watched them at very closerangefrom the car, then as I drew nearer the flock scattered.Several, which I presumed were the young,actedhesitant andflewontoa nearbyfencebeforejoiningthe remainder the flock of across road in a pine and birchtree. Here they remained at the for leasta q.uarter an hour." of
MAINE, 1955

Evening Grosbeaks appeared the feeders thecampof Mrs. first at at IvanSherman BigLyfordPond, at Kokadjo, about. May 20th. "At first thereweresixbuttheyincreased numbers in untilabout wereappear25

ingeach day. Theyfedat thefeeders several for weeks thendis-. and appeared .a weekor more..Theyt,hen for returned wer,e and seen intermittently during summer some the unti timein July,afterwhich they forgood." fMaine left F?eld Naturalist, 1956, 12,No.1, Jan. Vol. p.22). OnJune John Monahan 7th J. observed Evening two Grosbeaks
at Millinocket. At Presque thisspecies reported a summer Isle was as
between SouthT, urner Mountainand Mr. Katahdin observed pair daily a

wereobserved: Ranger Edward Werlerat theRoaring BrookCampsite

resident Glen by Chamberl'ain. twoofthestate At campsites grosbeaks

forsixweeks toAugust prior 19th. Thebirds were seen eating calcium chidride thecamp in road. Theywerealsoobserved a yellow in birch
Grosbeak notbeen had reported thislocality at before. At theSouth Branch Ponds Campsite male one birdwasobserved a treetoward in theendof Julyby Ranger Dalton Kirk. M. Additional reports Maine from appearedtheMaine in Field Naturalist,Jan.1956,12f1): 27.. "MrsTherrien adults young had and come
began August (Hill)." on 4th
NEW HAMPSHIRE,1955

apparently oldcatkina theprevious eating from year. TheEvening

toherfeeding station Eustis August. was in in One reported Skowin

NearLincoln theKancamaugus on Highway Harry C. McDade Dr.

observedAugust at 7 .P.M. thejunction East on 3rd at of Pond Trail with highway adult Evening the one male Grosbeak orpicking feeding
in themiddle a dirt road. The bird waswatched a short of for time

seen Mrs. by Richard atNew Hebert. Hampton. Scott Fred reported

fromPittsburg, "another Evening Grosbeak nesting record.There have been fewEvening a Grosbeakssummer August there all and 9th
author noted mal.e a grosbeak July27th. on

untilheflew away thewoods. July21st grosbeaks into On two were

wasfamily two a group, adults three and and young possibly feedmore ing pincherries yard." theWaterville Innthe on inour At Valley

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$HauB, Evening Grosbeak Records Btrcl-Bancllng Summer

Octolder

VZRMONT,1955

Vermontcontinued ,bethe mostheavilypopulated to EveningGrosbeak area in the northeast. Mrs. Edwin D.. Brooks writes from Land.

grove, "Lastspring andsummer starting May 7, 1955,I banded 15

malesand 13 females trapped and two bandedones. The last onewas banded July29th as I wasnot thereduringAugust. I am surethat on

at least pairsnested six nearthe farm. Manyof those banded I were immature." From Montpelier Mrs. NathanGreenberg reports, "One pair ,ofEvening Grosbeaks nested thisvicinity in during summer the

their young theyard, females one to two and male; these ;;isited ,birds
off and on until September, adult one femalethen became visitor a until earlyin September, the 15th,thenthe ,birds say werenot seen again untilNovember 2nd." At Morgan August andlOtheight on 9th or more grosbeaks reported Noble(fideMrs.RuthEmery). were by

months, visited pair stand bird bathdaily,thenin Julybrought and

At Sherburne Miss Elizabeth Ball saw a pair on June8th abouttwo

miles eastof LongTrail Lodge. On July9th. sawfive,including she twomales, Mendon, in about miles five west LongTrail.Lodge. Mr. of Herbert Allenreported the Evening that Grosbeaks nested around Rochester during summer hesawad, fairlyfr. t'he and ul.ts equently and
andAlison Macdonald onegrosbeak 3rd andheardoneJuly saw June

ajuvenal fed. AtRed being Echo Farm, Topsham,Misses the Elizabeth

28thoneadultmalebanded bothlegs on came the feeder W. Y. to of Fillebrown 1.ocated the southwest of Woodstock at edge Villageandthe

7th. At Waterbury Lloyd Mr. Squier reported Evening that Grosbeaks nested hisproperty at least juvenals observed near and 20 were (fide Downs)..T. S. Fillebrown reports the 1955nesting that record in Woodstock the,first be reported was to since 1926. On June 27thand

same adult appeared 29th. Onthisdate June :Mrs. Harold Conner who lives thenorthwest of thevillage at edge reported Richard to Marble thattwoad, grosbeaks twoyoung u[t and were herfeeder that at and adult birds were feeding young.OnJune the 30thanadult paircame
to the W. Y. Fillebrown feeder. July1stan adultpair andtwo young were observed Mrs. Conner's at feederby T. S. Fillebrown ,andthe

young seen were being Later thatdayanadult and fed. on pair two young appeared Y. Fillebrown atW. feeder. .From y 2nd lOth Jul. to
In .allof ,the above observations adultmalewas the banded bothlegs on

feeder young and were fed. At times adults the came ,,vithout young.

an'adult pairandtwoyoung came constantlyW. Y. Fillebrown to

soit wasevidently same the bird. July18thand19than unhanded male .one and young came W. Y. Fillebrown andadult to feeder fed

the young July inthe bird. 23rd morning unbanded and an male one young (evidently male) toT.S.Fillebrown located ayoung came feeder
about miles 4 sotthwestthe viii. of age. The adultfedthe young bird. In the.afternoonthesame a young returned of day bird .alone began and

feeding itself.Later .adult young both and returned. July On 24th

an,adult male andoneyoung came several times T. S..Filiebrown to

feeder. After date this Evening Grosbeaks notolserved. we/e The

summer records South for Londonderry givenin detailin Part II are
of this paper.

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CONNECTICUT, 1955

[165

As far as the author was able to determine, the state of Connecticut

hashadno previous .summer records Evening of Grosbeaks sothe and report of Dr. Searsfor MoheganPark in the city .of Norwichtown in Aug, is of considerable ust. interest. His observations reportedby are Mrs. HeleneKnup. Dr. andMrs. Sears were attracted the call note .by heardaround feeding the station winterandtheno.bserved pairs in two in the treesnear the park lake, locatedin a 1,arge wooded area.
NEW YORK, 1955
From Essex Mrs. Marion C. Mason wrote that June 13th was the last

date shesaw a pair of EveningGrosbeaks which had apparently remained to nest in the area. From Moravia Ruby A. Sawyer writes, "We had beenfeedingthe EveningGrosbeaks several for monthsuntil

May 15th when they disappeared.On June 14th a male cameto our windowfeedingstationand came again o,nthe 15th." Robert
Christie, Jr., wrote from Piseco June 6, 1955, "Toward the last of

April the flockbegan build up and by earlyMay we werefeeding to ,three pounds sunflower of seeds day andtheywoul.d a haveeaten more hadit been supplied.Our largest co.unt any onetimewas75 birds at with malespredominating. Somecourting was apparent second the week May andthe birdsstarted leave, feweachday,until by the in to a end of t.hemonthwe were left with six pairs which are undoubtedly nesting the vicinity." At Saranac in Laketherewasa summer popu-

lationagainas reported Mrs. Charles Barnet. "Many baby by S. Evening Grosbeaks here were thissummer, manyas 20; some as days theywould come witha maleadultandstayall day. Therewerefewer
towards October and from the middle of October until the middle of

Novembernone were seen here." From the same locality anot. her

report received Greenleaf whoobserved juvenal was from Chase that birds appearedthefeeding at stations same the week June in 1954 of as andstayed early until October. Although didnotcheck breedhe the ingterritories didfeelthatthebirds he used approximately same the
area as in 1954.

SUMMARY

Although was decline thenumber reports summering there .a in of of Evening GrosbeakstheMaritimes, England NewYork in New and froma totalof 43 reports 1953to 40 in 1954and27 in 1955, in this reduction figures reflect decline reporter in may a in activity rather
thana decline the number localities in .of havingsummer resident popu-

lations Evening of Grosbeaks. was increasethenumber There an in of reports immature of Evening Grosbeaks 13reports 1953 16 from in to

reports 1954 in ,with decline 10 in 1955. Thiscould a to possibly

indicate results a poor the of nesting season. theexceptionthe With of Norwichtown, Connecticut, report, areaoccupied generally the was that bythe used Evening Grosbeaks fortheir nesting during range 1953. However,the54different of localities reporting 1954 1955 for and onl'y

18had reported Evening Grosbeaks summer to1954.This inany prior may reflect increased interest may observer orit indi.cate from ashifting
Grosbeaks.

onesummer the nextof the nesting to areas favored the Evening by