Species of Concern
Evening Grosbeak
Hesperiphona vespertina
About This Species
Evening Grosbeaks are birds of coniferous and mixed forest that behave irruptively, appearing in variable numbers at feeders and seed-bearing trees well south of their breeding range in winters when northern cone and seed crops fail. Their large, pale conical bill is built for cracking seeds, and flocks are often first noticed by their loud, ringing flight calls before they are seen. Winter irruption years, when flocks descend on sunflower-seed feeders, currently offer the most reliable views given the species' ongoing decline.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- This species is listed as Vulnerable due to a steep, poorly understood population decline across its range, so it warrants extra care: watch from a normal feeder-viewing distance rather than approaching a flock, and avoid any activity that repeatedly scatters birds from a feeding site in cold weather when energy conservation matters most.
- It is protected under general migratory bird laws in both the United States and Canada, and given its conservation status, minimizing any disturbance, including flash photography at close range, is the more cautious approach even where it is not separately mandated.
- If breeding activity is suspected, keep well away from the nest area entirely.
VUAvesPasseriformesFringillidae
Seasonal Activity
714,195 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.