Black-headed Grosbeak Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Song
Media Player Error
Update your browser or Flash plugin
Arizona, June 04, 2005Recorded by Curtis Marantz | Macaulay Library
Song
Media Player Error
Update your browser or Flash plugin
Oaxaca, March 29, 2019Recorded by Jay McGowan | Macaulay Library
Calls
Media Player Error
Update your browser or Flash plugin
Oregon, June 11, 1989Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller | Macaulay Library
Female calls
Media Player Error
Update your browser or Flash plugin
California, May 28, 2014Recorded by Ed Pandolfino | Macaulay Library
Flight calls
Media Player Error
Update your browser or Flash plugin
British Columbia, September 09, 2012Recorded by Ian Cruickshank

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

The Black-headed Grosbeak's whistled song rises and falls like an American Robin's, but it’s longer, sweeter, more varied, and less choppy in its phrases. It's sometimes likened to that of a "drunk" or "operatic" robin. Both males and females sing. The female's song is usually shorter, simpler, and quieter. She sings less frequently than the male, usually from the nest.

Calls

The Black-headed Grosbeak's typical call is a sharp spik uttered frequently to keep contact with mates while foraging. They utter an upslurring wheet upon taking flight. Their distress call is a series of rapidly repeated notes flung out in response to imminent danger to themselves or their chicks, or in violent altercations with other grosbeaks.