#: 73-B-07

Idaho Bird Records Committee Rarities Report Form

Species: Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Reporter: Jay Carlisle

BSU – Biology

1910 University Drive

Boise, ID 83725

jaycarlisle@boisestate.edu

Observers: Graham Fairhurst, Craig Fosdick, Michelle Labbe, Nancy Langer, and Debbie Leick (IBO field assistants/volunteers)

Date Report Prepared: 7-11-07

Date Sighting Occurred: 8-28-05 (capture)

Locality of Observation: Camas NWR, Jefferson Co.

Habitat: riparian woodland and edge

Conditions: mostly clear & calm (a busy migration day…)

Did you take notes? not at all

Did you consult a field guide or other reference work? during the observation

What guide(s) or reference(s) did you consult?

Pyle’s 1997 ‘The Identification Guide to North American Birds’; Sibley; National Geographic

Description: A grosbeak with prominent supercilium and a thick bill. Important features included a buffy chest with a few streaks and a few rosy feathers, distinctly rosy underwing coverts, a distinct white area on the chin (between the bill and the chest), and a white patch at the base of the primaries.

Based on incomplete skull development and plumage, this bird was identified as an immature male.

Behavior: This bird was captured as part of a standardized bird migration study. 7 days later, on Sept 4, I saw this same bird (banded and I saw the rosy underwings well – so as to distinguish from an immature female captured and banded on 8-30-05) foraging in association with an immature male Black-headed Grosbeak. Both were feeding and flying in among some low, dead Box Elder branches along a trail N of headquarters.

How and when did you positively identify the bird, and what clinched the identification for you? The key ID feature was the presence of rosy on the underwing coverts and chest; the white chin area also aided the ID.

How did you eliminate similar species, and what were they? Black-headed Grosbeak commonly occurs at the site and females of these 2 species are very similar. However, young males differ in a few key traits: Black-headed’s have bright yellow underwing coverts, a more tawny-colored chest, and they tend not to have as distinct of a whitish chin area separating the beak from the chest.

Experience with this species (and similar species): I have observed hundreds of each (especially SD & further east for Rose-breasted), including 1 other at Camas NWR (separate report) in 2005.

General birding experience: extensive; 14+ years in US and Latin America

Were photo(s), video, and/or audio obtained by you? (If yes, please include or attach) Yes, by Nancy Langer.