Nesting of the Evening Grosbeak in Northern Michigan

Abstract

THE breeding range of the typical form of the Evening Grosbeak (Hesperiphona vespertina vespertina) is at present very imperfectly known. There are records of birds seen in summer in Alberta, Manitoba, Minnesota, and extreme western Ontario and of young not yet fully fledged in both Alberta and Manitoba; but the only fully authentic nest found is one discovered by Mr. S. S. Stansell about thirty miles northwest of Edmonton, Alberta. The writer's discovery of five nests of this species in northern Michigan is therefore of much interest. Evening Grosbeaks are found to be fairly common in favored sections of Michigan in fall, winter, and early spring, but disappear with the approach of the nesting season. Flocks of these forest dwellers were observed in November, 1920, in the Taquamenaw River district, Northern Peninsula of Michigan, to which locality they were evidently attracted by the heavy beech mast. The birds were generally observed earnestly feeding in the top branches of the hardwood trees. Observation and inquiry in the summer of 1921 gave no hope of finding the birds nesting, and it was, therefore, an agreeable surprise when, in July, 1922, a nesting colony was located on Whitefish Point, Lake Superior, about 20 miles from the Canadian shore. It is fitting that a place so far-famed as Whitefish Point should be selected as a nesting place by these elusive wanderers, but from available information it seems that they had never before, during the recollection of present inhabitants, so favored it. The site chosen is an impressive and interesting one and truly in harmony with the beauty and dignity of the birds. The beauty of the northern woods, especially where the white pine grew, has been greatly impaired by lumbering, not only as a result of the removal of the trees, but because, where extensive lumbering was done, forest fires invariably followed the logging. It is not improbable that the cutting of the pines influenced the birds that might have