Bird
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus ludovicianus
A summer resident that nests in North Carolina. Found in all 100 counties, across 15 habitats.
- Here
- Summer and on migration
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 15

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer and on migration
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 15
- Habitat models
- Summer
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in North Carolina 15
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Floodplain and bottomland forests



Streams, rivers and their banks


Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.
High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.
Other habitats in its models (38)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (4)
- Cumberland Riverscour Summer.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer.
- Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Summer.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer.
Northeast (12)
- Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Acadian-Appalachian Subalpine Woodland and Heath-Krummholz Summer.
- Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer.
- Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer.
- Eastern Boreal Floodplain Summer.
- Laurentian-Acadian Alkaline Conifer-Hardwood Swamp Summer.
- Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwoods Forest Summer.
- Laurentian-Acadian Northern Pine-(Oak) Forest Summer.
- Laurentian-Acadian Pine-Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
Midwest (6)
- Boreal Aspen-Birch Forest Summer.
- Great Lakes Wooded Dune and Swale Summer.
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer.
Land cover and other classes (16)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer.
- Boreal Acidic Peatland Systems Summer.
- Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Summer.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Summer.
- Laurentian-Acadian Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Laurentian-Acadian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer.
- Laurentian-Acadian Swamp Systems Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Recently Burned Forest Summer.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Summer.
- Recently Logged Areas Summer.
Seasons in North Carolina
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 85 of 100 counties.
- Summer: nests here, in 24 of 100 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 231
- Bear OakQuercus ilicifolia
- Black OakQuercus velutina
- Blackjack OakQuercus marilandica
- Bluejack OakQuercus incana
- Bluff OakQuercus austrina
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Chestnut OakQuercus montana
- Chinquapin OakQuercus muehlenbergii
- Darlington OakQuercus hemisphaerica
- Dwarf Chinquapin OakQuercus prinoides
- Georgia OakQuercus georgiana
- Laurel OakQuercus laurifolia
- Live OakQuercus virginiana
- Northern Red OakQuercus rubra
- Overcup OakQuercus lyrata
- Pin OakQuercus palustris
- Post OakQuercus stellata
- Sand Live OakQuercus geminata
- Scarlet OakQuercus coccinea
- Shingle OakQuercus imbricaria
- Shumard OakQuercus shumardii
- Southern Red OakQuercus falcata
- Swamp Chestnut OakQuercus michauxii
- Swamp White OakQuercus bicolor
Plant genera in its diet records (17)
- Pisum 3 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Quercus Flowers and seeds. 3 diet records. 31 native plants in North Carolina
- Acer Flowers. 1 diet record. 9 native plants in North Carolina
- Amelanchier Fruit. 1 diet record. 7 native plants in North Carolina
- Avena Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Carex Seeds. 1 diet record. 148 native plants in North Carolina
- Carya 1 diet record. 10 native plants in North Carolina
- Cenchrus Fruit. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in North Carolina
- Fagus Flowers. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in North Carolina
- Impatiens Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina
- Populus Flowers. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in North Carolina
- Rubus Fruit. 1 diet record. 11 native plants in North Carolina
- Sambucus Flowers. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina
- Sanguinaria Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in North Carolina
- Solanum Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina
- Triticum Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Zea 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 53
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Red-cockaded WoodpeckerPicoides borealis
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
Plants 217
- Chestnut OakQuercus montana
- Georgia OakQuercus georgiana
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Godfrey's ThoroughwortEupatorium godfreyanum
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern LoosestrifeSteironema tonsum
- Carolina LilyLilium michauxii
- Tall BellflowerCampanulastrum americanum
- Bigleaf SnowbellStyrax grandifolius
- Delicate Rabbit-tobaccoPseudognaphalium micradenium
Forest edges and thickets
Birds 40
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- Barn SwallowHirundo rustica
- Loggerhead ShrikeLanius ludovicianus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Northern BobwhiteColinus virginianus
Plants 231
- Bristly BlackberryRubus setosus
- Tall LarkspurDelphinium exaltatum
- Canada PlumPrunus nigra
- Fire CherryPrunus pensylvanica
- Giant SunflowerHelianthus giganteus
- Gray DogwoodSwida racemosa
- Roughleaf DogwoodSwida asperifolia
- Southern DewberryRubus trivialis
- Sawtooth BlackberryRubus argutus
- Buffalo CloverTrifolium reflexum
- Cutleaf GoldenrodSolidago arguta
- Hairy LettuceLactuca hirsuta
Swamps
Birds 69
- Gull-billed TernGelochelidon nilotica
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- RedheadAythya americana
- Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
Plants 329
- May HawthornCrataegus aestivalis
- Dense-flower SmartweedPersicaria densiflora
- Carolina AshFraxinus caroliniana
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Dark-green SedgeCarex venusta
- Fringed SedgeCarex crinita
- Ravenfoot SedgeCarex crus-corvi
- Weak Stellate SedgeCarex seorsa
- White-edge SedgeCarex debilis
- Swamp ButtercupRanunculus septentrionalis
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP summer habitat model for Rose-breasted Grosbeak Elevation up to 2,500 m
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus


















































































