Flashy Songbird Getting A Lot Of Attention At Local Feeders

By Molly Daly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Ever notice how your diet changes when you're traveling? You eat stuff you never eat at home. It's the same for migrating birds, who are heading north to breed.

One songbird's taste in road food is causing a big stir in the area as they stop in to fuel up at bird feeders stocked with sunflower seeds.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, named for their thick triangular beaks, spend most of the year in the upper canopy of the forest, but come to feeders during migration after flying all night.

American Birding Association Director of Conservation and Community Bill Stewart says they're hard to miss.

"If you see it from behind, it's all black, and then when you see it from the front, it has a very, very white breast, and then it has almost heart-shaped, bright red feathers on its upper chest, and it's chunky. It's really stunning."

You'll probably hear a Rose-breasted Grosbeak before you see it. It sings like an operatic Robin. Its call note is distinctive, too.

"It sounds just like a sneaker squeaking on a gym floor."

If you hear either sound, look up, you may be rewarded with some serious avian eye candy.

But they won't be here long; when the weather clears, they'll likely push off for their breeding grounds, and it may be another year before you get to feast your eyes again on these beautiful birds.