Evening Grosbeak in August

August feels like summer but the year has turned. Southbound migration is quietly underway, many adults are molting into fresh plumage, and family groups are breaking up. Late nesters are still feeding young in the North while southern birds are already drifting toward wintering grounds.

For the Evening Grosbeak specifically, August is a summer month of relative routine, with the species settled into its seasonal pattern across its range. Across the 34 states and provinces where evening grosbeaks occur, what the bird is doing this month depends heavily on latitude — the details below break it down by band.

Southern states

absent

Mid-latitudes

year-round resident

Northern states & Canada

absent

In August, evening grosbeaks are absent in the South, year-round resident across the mid-latitudes, and absent in the northern states and Canada. That north–south split is the defining feature of this month: where you live changes which version of this bird you're looking at.

Evening grosbeaks are not nesting in August. The season runs June–July at mid-latitudes, and up to a month later in the North.

Outside the nesting season, evening grosbeaks put their energy into feeding and flocking rather than territory and young — which is exactly what makes them easier to watch and attract this month.

• Spruce budworm caterpillars

Flocks can empty a feeder in a morning during irruption years; populations have declined sharply since the 1980s.

Molting birds look scruffy and often skulk — don't be surprised if familiar visitors briefly vanish. Keep water fresh in the heat.

Full Evening Grosbeak diet guide → · Best feeder for evening grosbeaks →

Evening grosbeaks are settled and predictable in August, which makes this a good month to learn the bird's routine — same feeders, same perches, same times of day.

The state guides below show exactly where in your region evening grosbeaks are expected this month and which native plants hold them in a yard.

AlbertaArizonaBritish ColumbiaColoradoConnecticutIdahoMaineManitobaMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew MexicoNew YorkNewfoundland and LabradorNorth Dakota