Fading yellows: Where are the Evening Grosbeaks?

Through the 1980s, bird feeders in Northern Minnesota were flooded with large, vibrant flocks of Evening Grosbeaks. These birds would arrive in such numbers and eat so voraciously they regularly consumed 50 pounds of sunflower seeds in a single week.

Today, the hungry hordes around Minnesota’s birdfeeders have declined to just a few flocks, eagerly awaited by residents. Pam Perry, a Brainerd resident and enthusiastic ornithologist, has not seen an Evening Grosbeak in Crow Wing County since 2007. Bird surveys show a 75% decline in the North American population.

This month, Perry, also a retired Department of Natural Resources biologist, joined the KAXE Morning Show to discuss the research and current understanding of this decline. Additionally, she joined staff phenologist John Latimer in enthusiastically describing the seasonal stories of our local frogs and toads.

As always, their conversation is full of outdoor inspiration and fascinating facts — click “play” to listen in!

Topics

• Introduction (0:00-1:01)
• Tadpole under ice (1:01-6:10)
• Frozen frogs (6:10-12:27)
• Evening Grosbeaks (12:27-16:31)
• Birding groups (16:31-18:24)
• Conclusion (18:24-18:51)

For more phenology, <b class="rte2-style-bold">subscribe</b> to our Season Watch Newsletter or visit the Season Watch Facebook page.

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).