(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

Three female Evening Grosbeaks were the featured guests today at the feeding station of New Jersey Audubon’s Scherman Hoffman Sanctuary in Bernardsville. When the birds arrived, Susan Garretson-Friedman spread the word via various media outlets so that other people were able to watch the birds feed, preen, fly around, perch, call, etc.

Entering a query for Evening Grosbeaks in the eBird Species Map will display other reports from New Jersey in this season of winter finches.

The Evening Grosbeaks visiting New Jersey this season, are most likely of Type 3, the eastern population. Five different sub-species of Evening Grosbeaks are thought to exist. Here is a link describing the different sub-species’ vocalizations from the Earbirding website:

Evening Grosbeak Call Types.

Following is a map showing the range of the five sub-species of Evening Grosbeak, created by Kei Sochi. See Birding, November 2012, pp. 34–40, for full details.



Here is a size comparison between an Evening Grosbeak on the left and an American Goldfinch on the right. Both species are in the Fringillidae family. (Click on the photos for larger images.)

While observers viewed from the upper deck at Scherman Hoffman Sanctuary the Evening Grosbeaks displayed an effective camouflage against the stones.

Dave Blinder created a video today of the lingering Troy Meadows Vesper Sparrow.

The 83rd annual Boonton Christmas Bird Count is on Sunday, December 23, 2018. Contact the compiler, Jonathan Klizas, at boontoncbc at gmail dot com if you are interested in participating.

View local eBird checklists in the mocosocoBirds region via eBird’s Region Explorer. Use the following links:

The eBird Hotspot Primer is here and can also be accessed via the Hotspot menu item on the mocosocoBirds.com website.

The mocosocoBirds Facebook page is located here and also posts timely information not found on the mocosocoBirds web site.

@mocosocoBirds at Twitter is another communications stream. Instant field reports and links of interest are tweeted throughout the day. The latest tweets appear on the sidebar of this page. One can follow mocosocoBirds at Twitter or link to @mocosocoBirds.

Finis