The head, breast and rump of an adult male are rosy red. The wings, with two white bars, and the tail are black. A female is grayish except for two white wing bars and an olive-green head and rump. The Blue Grosbeak is a strictly southern species that nests from the Gulf Coast to Maryland, southern Illinois and Nebraska. The male is a deep purplish blue with two brown wing bars.
Females have the wing bars but are dull brownish sometimes tinged with blue.
Argonne National Laboratory, Division of Educational Programs, Harold Myron, Ph.D., Division Director.