Pine Grosbeak

Pine Grosbeak

Pinicola enucleator

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Montreal

In 3 days <5%

121 Verified sightings at Montreal
2,786 In all 18 parks From 2019 to 2026
February Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Pine Grosbeak

The pine grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) is a large member of the true finch family, Fringillidae. It is the only species in the genus Pinicola. It is found in coniferous woods across Alaska, the western mountains of the United States, Canada, and in subarctic Fennoscandia and across the Palearctic to Siberia. The species is a frugivore, especially in winter, favoring small fruits, such as rowans (mountain-ashes in the New World). With fruit-crop abundance varying from year to year, pine grosbeak is one of many subarctic-resident bird species that exhibit irruptive behavior. In irruption years, individuals can move long distances in search of suitable food supplies, bringing them farther south and/or downslope than is typical of years with large fruit crops.

The pine grosbeak was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia enucleator. The type locality is Sweden. It is now the only species placed in the genus Pinicola that was erected in 1808 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. The generic name Pinicola combines the Latin pinus meaning "pine tree" and colere... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:26

Finland · 2026

© Teet Sirotkin · XC1157228 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Song0:18

Finland · 2024

© Maarten Sluijter · XC895942 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call1:02

Sweden · 2024

© Thomas Bergman · XC944125 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kluane National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~40%
2 Gros Morne National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~30%
3 Wrangell-St. Elias National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
4 Banff National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
5 Riding Mountain National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
6 Jasper National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
7 Katmai National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
8 Rocky Mountain National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
9 Glacier National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 Grand Teton National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
11 Kenai Fjords National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
12 Yellowstone National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
13 Yosemite National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
14 Denali National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
15 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
16 Great Bear Rainforest 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
17 Olympic National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
18 Acadia National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Nizhny Novgorod 🇷🇺 Russia
~10%
2 Edmonton 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
3 Anchorage 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
4 Calgary 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
5 Yekaterinburg 🇷🇺 Russia
<5%
6 Montreal 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
7 Vancouver 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
8 Seattle 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Pine Grosbeak in Montreal?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pine Grosbeak sighting in Montreal on a given day, based on 121 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 202nd most-seen of the 256 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Pine Grosbeak in Montreal?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pine Grosbeak in Montreal on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Pine Grosbeak?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pine Grosbeak sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Montreal the best place to see a Pine Grosbeak?

6th of 8

Of the 8 cities where we can rate Pine Grosbeak sightings, Montreal ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, about 10%), Edmonton (Canada, about 10%) and Anchorage (United States, under 5%).

Which relatives of the Pine Grosbeak live in Montreal?

Same family: Fringillidae

The closest relatives of the Pine Grosbeak that you can see in Montreal (family Fringillidae, Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) are American Goldfinch (about 70%), House Finch (about 50%) and Purple Finch (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Pine Grosbeak sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Pine Grosbeak is recorded against all the birds logged in Montreal (121 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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