Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator)

Group Finches
Code ABPBY03010
Order Passeriformes
Family Fringillidae
Author (Linnaeus, 1758)
Rank G5 (definitions)
Occurrence W (definitions)
Scale N (definitions)

County List:

Western UP none
Eastern UP none
Northern LP none
Southern LP none

Rule:

Forested or Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes

      (Spruce/Fir (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Mixed Upland Conifer (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Northern White Cedar (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Black Spruce (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Mixed Lowland Conifer (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
   containing:
      Mast
view decision rule term definitions

Habitat List:

Habitats Regen Sap Pole Sm Saw Lg Saw Uneven
Aspen nonononono-
Paper Birch nonononono-
Oak nononononono
Assorted Hardwoods nononononono
Northern Hardwoods nononononono
Spruce/Fir nonoYESYESYESYES
Hemlock nononononono
Jack Pine nononononono
Red Pine nononononono
White Pine nononononono
Conifer Plantations nonononono-
Mixed Upland Hardwoods nononononono
Mixed Northern Hardwoods nononononono
Mixed Upland Conifer nonoYESYESYESYES
Mixed Pine nononononono
Swamp Hardwoods nononononono
Balsam Poplar & Swamp Aspen & Swamp Birch nononononono
Bottomland Hardwoods nononononono
Tamarack nononononono
Northern White Cedar nonoYESYESYESYES
Black Spruce nonoYESYESYESYES
Mixed Lowland Hardwoods nononononono
Mixed Lowland Conifer nonoYESYESYESYES
Non-Forestednone
Special FeaturesMast

view size class definitions

Literature:

Adams, R. J. Jr. 1991. Pine Grosbeak. Page 544 In: R. Brewer, G. A. McPeek, and R. J. Adams, Jr. (eds.) The atlas of breeding birds of Michigan. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing. 594 pp.

Habitat: The Pine Grosbeak prefers open coniferous or mixed coniferous-deciduous woods in the breeding season. Nests are placed in evergreens, such as spruce and fir, 6 to 30 feet from the ground. This grosbeak feeds on a diverse assortment of seeds, buds, and fruits from conifers and hardwood, and is especially fond of fruits of ornamental trees and shrubs.

It can best be described as a regular winter resident in the Upper Peninsula. Every four to eight years, mass irruptions bring large numbers of Pine Grosbeaks to the southern Lower Peninsula.


DeGraaf, R. M. and D. D. Rudis. 1986. New England wildlife: habitat, natural history, and distribution. GTR NE-108. Broomall, PA:USDA, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 491 pp.

Habitat: Breeding: Northern spruce-fir forests, typically at high elevations, usually at edge of open area in forest or along forest border. Wintering: May remain in breeding areas or move south to open cedar-strewn hillsides, residential areas with feeders, orchards, street trees.

Special Habitat Requirements: Coniferous forests.


Kaufman, K. 1996. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 675 pp.

Habitat: Conifers; in winter, other trees. Breeds in open coniferous forest, especially of spruce and fir; despite the name, not usually in pines in summer. In winter, often found in deciduous trees (especially fruiting trees such as mountain-ash or crabapple), also in groves of pines and other conifers.

Diet: Seeds, buds, berries, insects. Feeds mostly on vegetable matter, especially in winter. Major items include the seeds of conifers and other trees, buds of many kinds of trees (such as maples), berries, wild fruits (including crab apples), sometimes seeds of weeds and grasses. Also eats some insects, mainly in summer. Will come to feeders for sunflower seeds and other items.

Nest: Placed on horizontal branch or in fork of conifer such as spruce or fir, usually 5-15 feet above ground, sometimes as low as 2 feet up in deciduous shrub or up to 25 feet high in tree. Nest is a bulky open cup of twigs, weeds, rootlets, lined with fine grass, more rootlets, lichens, moss.