Evening Grosbeak

Evening Grosbeak

Hesperiphona vespertina

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCNTVUVulnerableENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Rocky Mountain National Park

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%

511 Verified sightings at Rocky Mountain National Park From 2019 to 2026
2,029 In all 18 parks
January Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Evening Grosbeak

The evening grosbeak (Hesperiphona vespertina) is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae found in North America. The evening grosbeak is bulky, with a large bill and short tail. The bird has a distinct appearance, with the adult male featuring a bright yellow forehead and body, brown head, and white wing patches, while the adult female has a mainly olive-brown body with greyer underparts and white wing patches.

The evening grosbeak breeds in coniferous and mixed forests across Canada, the western mountainous areas of the United States, and Mexico. Its migration pattern is variable, sometimes reaching as far south as the southern U.S. in winters. These birds forage in trees and bushes, and their diet mainly consists of seeds, berries, and insects. The bird's range has expanded eastward in historical times, likely due to the planting of Manitoba maples and other shrubs near farms and the availability of bird feeders during winter.

The evening grosbeak was formally described in 1825 by the American naturalist William Cooper and given the binomial name Fringilla vespertina. Cooper had been sent a specimen by the ethnologist Henry Schoolcraft that had been collected... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song1:11

United States · 2026

© Valerie Heemstra · XC1096678 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:58

United States · 2025

© David A. Brinkman · XC1008980 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Uncertain0:21

Canada · 2023

© Denis Provencher · XC783806 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Riding Mountain National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~30%
2 Gros Morne National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
3 Rocky Mountain National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 Cape Breton Highlands National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
5 Glacier National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
6 Yellowstone National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
7 Yosemite National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
8 Grand Teton National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
9 Grand Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 Olympic National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
11 Zion National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
12 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
13 Banff National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
14 Death Valley National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
15 Great Bear Rainforest 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
16 Saguaro National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
17 Great Smoky Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
18 Acadia National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Portland 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
2 Salt Lake City 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
3 Seattle 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
4 Vancouver 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
5 Sacramento 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
6 Montreal 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
7 Calgary 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
8 New York City 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
9 Denver 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 Edmonton 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an Evening Grosbeak in Rocky Mountain National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Evening Grosbeak sighting in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 511 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 76th most-seen of the 223 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an Evening Grosbeak in Rocky Mountain National Park?

January

In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report an Evening Grosbeak in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to October, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see an Evening Grosbeak?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Evening 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 Rocky Mountain National Park the best place to see an Evening Grosbeak?

3rd of 18

Of the 18 parks where we can rate Evening Grosbeak sightings, Rocky Mountain National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Riding Mountain National Park (Canada, about 30%) and Gros Morne National Park (Canada, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Evening Grosbeak live in Rocky Mountain National Park?

Same family: Fringillidae

The closest relatives of the Evening Grosbeak that you can see in Rocky Mountain National Park (family Fringillidae, Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) are Pine Siskin (about 40%), House Finch (about 20%) and Red Crossbill (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Evening Grosbeak sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Evening Grosbeak is recorded against all the birds logged in Rocky Mountain National Park (511 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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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