RVer Surprised By Snowbird Returning North

My wife likes to get up early and watch the birds. From inside our RV, with tinted windows, she gets quite a show since the birds can’t see her. She saw a flash of black and white in her peripheral vision and figured it was probably a mockingbird. Imagine her surprise to see this Rose-breasted Grosbeak at our feeder!She said she thought I’d moved the RV to a rain forest overnight! That was yesterday morning. Today we had a Blue Grosbeak show up but we’re still trying to get a good picture of him. We’re in Columbus, Georgia and Grosbeaks migrate through this time of year. So if you’re in the area, hurry and get that bird feeder up while these beautiful birds are passing through. This is a photo of a breeding male. He has a warbled song and a call that sounds like this “eek” like a basketball player’s shoes on the gym floor. They range primarily on the East Coast of the USA during the spring and summer. These are truly snowbirds because they winter in Mexico and Central America. They like wooded habitat along waterways. Their diet consists of insects, fruit and seeds. They especially like to eat insects that are pests to crops like beetles, gypsy moths, locusts, cankerworms, tent caterpillars and others. So, these guys are good to have around!