The handsome black-headed grosbeak is the western counterpart to the East’s rose-breasted grosbeak, and the 2 even occasionally hybridize where they come into contact in the western Great Plains.

Polytypic. Length 5.8". Identification The species has a black crown and nape that contrast with a white face and breast. Adult male: It has a uniformly black crown and nape.

Over 15 years, the keeper used sperm from white-naped male cranes to artificially inseminate the bird, who had eight offspring to help perpetuate her species. There are believed to be fewer than ...