Black-faced Grosbeak
Caryothraustes poliogaster
The Black-faced Grosbeak (Caryothraustes poliogaster) is a uncommon cardinal found in 7 countries, weighing about 42 g. The black-faced grosbeak is a large seed-eating bird in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae), which is a resident breeding species from south-eastern Mexico to eastern Panama.
About the Black-faced Grosbeak
The black-faced grosbeak is a large seed-eating bird in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae), which is a resident breeding species from south-eastern Mexico to eastern Panama.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The adult black-faced grosbeak is 16.5 cm long, weighs 36 g, and has a heavy, mainly black, bill. It has a black face, yellow head, neck and breast, and olive back, wings and tail. The rump and belly are grey. Immatures are duller and have duskier face markings. The vocalisations include sharp chip or tweet calls, buzzes and whistles, and the song is a musical whistled cher chi weet, cher chir weet, cher chi chuweet.
Where it lives
When to see it
Best months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, October, November, December, with peak activity in March. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Black-faced Grosbeak?
- The adult black-faced grosbeak is 16.5 cm long, weighs 36 g, and has a heavy, mainly black, bill. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Black-faced Grosbeak?
- The Black-faced Grosbeak is a small sized bird weighing about 42 g.
- Where can you see a Black-faced Grosbeak?
- The Black-faced Grosbeak occurs in 7 countries, including Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Guatemala and Panama.
- What birds look similar to a Black-faced Grosbeak?
- The Black-faced Grosbeak is most easily confused with the Yellow-green Grosbeak.
- Is the Black-faced Grosbeak endangered?
- The Black-faced Grosbeak is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
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