Date: 5/12/25 7:10 pm From: William Flack via groups.io <sparvophile...> Subject: [NEBirds] Black-headed or hybrid grosbeak in Antelope County
Fellow NEBirders—
I was birding Fred Penn Park, at the western edge of Neligh, late this morning (May 12). In the trees near the buildings toward the east end of the park, I found what was either a Black-headed Grosbeak, or a hybrid with mostly Black-headed field marks.
The bird was singing overhead. I can't distinguish Black-headed from Rose-breasted by song, so that was no help. I looked, expecting a Rose-breasted, and saw what looked like a Black-headed instead. The view wasn't great: the bird was up among the leaves, and I was only able to get brief looks at bits and pieces. Since this seemed to be west of Black-headed's usual range, I looked for signs of hybridization: specifically, tried to check the underparts for any pink. They seemed to be mostly orange, grading into whitish on the lower belly; but with the brief and incomplete views, and the underparts mostly in the bird's shadow, I couldn't be certain that there wasn't any pink. The lower mandible seemed whitish; unfortunately, I think that could be the case with either of the two species, and I couldn't get a decent look at the upper mandible, whose color might be more useful.
If I'd seen this bird much farther west, I'd have called it Black-headed without hesitation. Since I couldn't be sure there was no pink suggestive of hybridization, I'm reporting it to eBird as "Rose-breasted/Black-headed Grosbeak". Unfortunately, eBird doesn't offer an option like "Black-headed/Rose-breasted x Black-headed".
