Date: 7/2/25 5:08 am From: Chris H <chobbs.f1...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Yellow Grosbeak (Larimer) - just wondering...
A Tropical Parula is nesting in Wichita, KS. Nothing is 'normal'.
Chris Hobbs
<chobbs.f1...>
________________________________
From: <cobirds...> <cobirds...> on behalf of Nathan Pieplow <npieplow...>
Sent: Tuesday, July 1, 2025 12:13:57 PM
To: Colorado Birds <cobirds...>
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Yellow Grosbeak (Larimer) - just wondering...
Hi all,
In 2006, I drove all the way to Albuquerque to see a Yellow Grosbeak. That bird, I believe, was NOT accepted by the New Mexico Bird Records Committee. It had three strikes against it:
* It had a bill deformity, which can be common in captive birds;
* It seemed unnaturally tame;
* It showed up in winter. (Summer is the expected season for wandering Yellow Grosbeaks.)
The current crop of vagrants doesn't suffer from any of those suspicious traits.
Furthermore, this species has established a pattern of vagrancy north of Mexico this year. The Estes Park bird is the fourth this year (!!!!) for Colorado, after birds in Arapahoe, Hinsdale, and Gilpin counties. Arkansas got its first Yellow Grosbeak a few months back. Something is probably happening to drive the species out of its normal home range in Mexico.
To sum up: all signs point to the Colorado grosbeaks being wild birds.
Nathan Pieplow
Boulder
On Tue, Jul 1, 2025 at 10:09 AM John Shenot <johnshenot...><mailto:<johnshenot...>> wrote:
To be clear, speaking as the original poster on this thread, I never expressed a belief (nor do I hold the belief) that the bird in Estes Park is an escaped cage bird. I consider it far more likely that the bird in Estes Park, and all the other Yellow Grosbeaks seen in Colorado, are/were in fact wild birds. I wouldn't have been excited to observe the Estes Park bird, otherwise, and I certainly wouldn't have chased it.
I really only intended to express a possibility that had not been raised previously and was hoping to learn from the knowledgeable folks on COBIRDS how one might determine if an out-of-range species that is occasionally captured and traded (illegally) as a cage bird is in fact a wild bird.
For Scott R's benefit, I want to clarify that I never asked this question about Yellow Grosbeaks seen elsewhere in Colorado because I didn't bother to chase any of those other ones. It's that simple. Seeing the bird in Estes Park provoked my curiosity. If I had seen any of the others I would have had the same curiosity and posed the same question. Maybe, in addition, I was influenced by a birder's report last week of a Rose-ringed Parakeet in Fort Collins, which had me thinking about escaped cage birds.
John Shenot
Fort Collins
On Tuesday, July 1, 2025 at 8:29:20 AM UTC-6 Ira Sanders wrote:
Scott, I agree.
This brings to mind birds like Tropical Parula, Streak-backed Oriole in the middle of winter, Hooded Orioles, Black-chinned Sparrow, Red-flanked Bluetail (Wyoming) and Lawrence's Goldfinch which are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Some of these I didn't hear about because they weren't reported on Cobirds (old gripe), but that's besides the point. Of this short list, the Streak-backed is the most obvious to me. You have a good point.
Ira Sanders
On Tue, Jul 1, 2025 at 7:58 AM Scott Rashid <pygmy......> wrote:
It’s interesting that only when the bird appears in estes that it becomes thought of as an escaped bird.
How come it wasn’t thought of as an escapee when it was found farther south in Colorado?
Scott Rashid
Estes park
On Mon, Jun 30, 2025 at 4:49 PM Susan Rosine <u5b2......> wrote:
I wonder where they are (were) kept as caged birds? Native song birds are illegal to keep as pets, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act covers the Yellow Grosbeak.
I would assume (and hope) the Colorado sightings are not previously caged birds.
Susan Rosine
Brighton
On Mon, Jun 30, 2025, 11:55 AM Steingraeber,David <David.Ste......> wrote:
Apparently, Yellow Grosbeaks are known to be kept as cage birds. In Rare Birds of North America by Howell, Lewington & Russell, the authors state, "Because yellow grosbeaks are kept in captivity (Hamilton 2001), extralimital records in both time and space are open to question." They then give several examples where various state records committees have not accepted extralimital occurrences, as well as cases where such occurrences have been accepted. They end their discussion of the topic with this: "Observers should not assume that extralimital records of this species are escaped cage birds, and all such occurrences should be carefully documented."
David Steingraeber
Fort Collins
________________________________
From: <cob......> <cob......> on behalf of Susan Rosine <u5b2......>
Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2025 9:02 PM
To: Colorado Birds <cob......>
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Yellow Grosbeak (Larimer) - just wondering...
** Caution: EXTERNAL Sender **
To my knowledge, they are not at all suitable to be a pet/caged bird. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
Susan Rosine
Brighton
On Sun, Jun 29, 2025, 8:31 PM John Shenot <johns......> wrote:
I was pleased to have the chance to see the Yellow Grosbeak in Estes Park today. Even so, I find myself wondering if anyone on this group has considered (perhaps privately?) that it might be an escaped cage bird? How would one know? Given that this bird is a solid 1,000 miles out of range, without any obvious weather phenomenon to explain its presence, is it unreasonable for me to wonder?
Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, sorry if it comes across that way. I'm just a curious guy...
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