Today a pair of these birds showed up in my backyard. I looked in all of my books for Florida and can not seem to find this species anywhere. I would appreciate some help.
This is the first time I have seen this species. The other interesting point is that so far I have only observed two males and no females. We live on the edge of some protected lands and our backyard is full of many different types of birds, but so far no females have been spotted.
Male rose-breasted grosbeaks usually arrive a few days before females, probably to set up the territory. Male birds get along as long as 'competitors' don't sing. If they do, you will see some bickering. On my feeder I loved to watch them. The male birds bring their offspring along. The juveniles were sitting in front of seeds but it takes them a while to stop begging and to eat on their own. Fun to watch. :)
That's great. Unfortunately we only saw the two males one afternoon and evening. The larger male was in the yard and at our feeders for a couple of more days and then moved on, I guess. They were beautiful to observe when they were here.