Blue Grosbeak
Blue GrosbeakBlue GrosbeakBlue GrosbeakBlue Grosbeak

Blue Grosbeak

Passerina caerulea

Silhouette: Jonah Duckles · PhyloPic

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

In 3 days <5%

33 Verified sightings at Phoenix
3,736 In all 46 parks From 2019 to 2026
September Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Blue Grosbeak

The blue grosbeak (Passerina caerulea) is a medium-sized North American passerine bird in the cardinal family Cardinalidae. It is mainly migratory, wintering in Central America and breeding in northern Mexico and the southern United States. The male is blue with two brown wing bars. The female is mainly brown with scattered blue feathers on the upperparts and two brown wing bars.

The blue grosbeak was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia caerulea. The specific epithet caerulea is the Latin word for "blue", "azure-blue", "sky-blue" or "dark-blue". Linnaeus based his own description on the "blew gross-beak" described and illustrated by Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. The book had been published in 1729–1732. Catesby gave the location as Carolina and Linnaeus specified America. The type location is now restricted to South Carolina.

Some taxonomists placed the blue grosbeak in its own monotypic genus Guiraca but in 2001 a molecular phylogenetic study of mitochondrial DNA sequences found that the blue grosbeak, in spite... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:07

United States · 2023

© Sue Riffe · XC841558 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:17

Mexico · 2023

© Manuel Grosselet · XC806711 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Begging call0:36

United States · 2021

© Paul Marvin · XC664845 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Badlands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
2 Guadalupe Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
3 Big Bend National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
4 Cumbres de Monterrey National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~10%
5 Cañón del Sumidero National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~10%
6 Rincón de la Vieja National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
7 Great Smoky Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
8 Congaree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
9 Santa Rosa National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
10 Saguaro National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
11 Calakmul Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
12 Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
13 Death Valley National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
14 Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
15 Lago de Yojoa 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
16 Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
17 Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
18 Palo Verde National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
19 Zion National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
20 Biotopo Cerro Cahuí 🇬🇹 Guatemala
<5%
21 Carara National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
22 Tikal National Park 🇬🇹 Guatemala
<5%
23 Masaya Volcano National Park 🇳🇮 Nicaragua
<5%
24 Los Haitises National Park 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
<5%
25 Pico Bonito National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
26 Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
27 El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
28 Celestún Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
29 Shenandoah National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
30 Ostional Wildlife Refuge 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
31 Padre Island National Seashore 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
32 Big Cypress National Preserve 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
33 Manuel Antonio National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
34 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
35 Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary 🇧🇿 Belize
<5%
36 Grand Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
37 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
38 Point Pelee National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
39 Joshua Tree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
40 Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
41 Tenorio Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
42 Tortuguero National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
43 Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
44 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
45 Rocky Mountain National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
46 Arenal Volcano National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Puebla 🇲🇽 México
~20%
2 Mexico City 🇲🇽 México
~10%
3 Toluca 🇲🇽 México
~10%
4 León 🇲🇽 México
~10%
5 San Pedro Sula 🇭🇳 Honduras
~10%
6 Guadalajara 🇲🇽 México
~10%
7 Tegucigalpa 🇭🇳 Honduras
~10%
8 Baltimore 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
9 San José 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
10 Houston 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 National Zoological Park 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
2 Xcaret 🇲🇽 Mexico In captivity
3 Houston Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
4 Zoológico Los Coyotes 🇲🇽 Mexico In captivity
5 La Paz Waterfall Gardens 🇨🇷 Costa Rica In captivity
6 Glen Echo Park Aquarium 🇺🇸 United States In captivity

Closest Relatives at Phoenix

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Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Painted Bunting
LC

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Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
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Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Western Tanager
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Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Black-headed Grosbeak
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Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Summer Tanager
LC

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☀️ Diurnal Bird

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Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Dickcissel
LC

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☀️ Diurnal Bird

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Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Hepatic Tanager
LC

Hepatic Tanager

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Piranga hepatica

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
House Finch
LC

House Finch

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Haemorhous mexicanus

Daily sighting probability ~80% · Very likely
Curve-billed Thrasher
LC

Curve-billed Thrasher

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Toxostoma curvirostre

Daily sighting probability ~80% · Very likely
Northern Mockingbird
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☀️ Diurnal Bird

Mimus polyglottos

Daily sighting probability ~80% · Very likely
European Starling
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European Starling

☀️ Diurnal Bird

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Daily sighting probability ~80% · Very likely

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Blue Grosbeak in Phoenix?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blue Grosbeak sighting in Phoenix on a given day, based on 33 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 171st most-seen of the 238 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 Blue Grosbeak in Phoenix?

Any time of year

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

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

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue Grosbeak sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Phoenix the best place to see a Blue Grosbeak?

27th of 33

Of the 33 cities where we can rate Blue Grosbeak sightings, Phoenix ranks 27th at under 5%. The best odds are in Puebla (México, about 20%), Mexico City (México, about 10%) and Toluca (México, about 10%).

Where does the Blue Grosbeak sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Blue Grosbeak is recorded against all the birds logged in Phoenix (33 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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