- Country:Canada
- Collection:BaseMetal Commemorative 25cents
- Metal:Base Metal
- Year:2012
- Denomination:25 Cents
- Finish:Complete
- Mintage:19985
- Product type:Coin
Bright Mystery: The Evening Grosbeak
Coccothraustes vespertinus is a talkative bird of bright golden plumage with a fascinating ability to camouflage itself among the deciduous and coniferous trees in which it makes its home. A helpful devourer of budworms whose range spans the entire continent, the Evening Grosbeak is a noted and well-loved bird that still harbours many mysteries.
This painted cupronickel coin has a diameter of 35 millimetres. The reverse design by Canadian Artist Arnold Nogy features an Evening Grosbeak perched happily on a red-leafed, snow-lined sumac bough. The bird's spectacular golden body and banded head with a velveteen brown crown and neck and black tail and wing feathers are viewed from slightly above and behind the right side of the Grosbeak's back. Its small, round body sits atop a wintery bough of red sumac leaves dusted with snow. A sumac stem rises behind the bird, its bare branches also lined with snow. Bird, branches, and leaves are framed to picturesque effect within the coin's framed and polished silver ground. The reverse features the word "CANADA," the date "2012," and the face value of "25 CENTS." The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.
The stunning, golden-yellow Coccothraustes vespertinus is a talkative bird of bright plumage with a contradictory ability to hide itself among the deciduous and coniferous trees in which it makes its home. Its camouflage begins with its unique bill. In springtime, the extra-large bill- normally a soft bone-white-turns the same delicate green as the fresh tree buds and new spruce needles that will hide its summertime nest. Sitting absolutely still, the bird hides itself among the trees.
This ability to hide itself is amazing for such a colourful bird: the male sports a spectacular golden body and banded head with a velveteen brown crown and neck, and black tail and wing feathers. The female's soft silver body is lined with yellow patches on the sides, neck, and wings. Her wing and tail feathers are bold black and white. These bold patterns match the dappled trees, while hiding the silhouette of the birds.
While the articulate Evening Grosbeak has a wide range of loud chirps and calls, it is only known to have a single warbling song. Nevertheless, it uses its large vocabulary of single tweets to express curiosity, alarm, position in a flock, and a full range of other emotional and predatory states. The bird is believed to have been given its name erroneously by its discoverer, who mistakenly thought that it came out of hiding to sing at night.
The Evening Grosbeak has notable eating habits as well. Backyard birdfeeding enthusiasts enjoy watching it carefully roll seeds across its bill to position them for rapid husking. Not only is the bill powerful enough to crack cherry pits, but the Evening Grosbeak can hull seeds with surprising speed, eating large quantities in mere minutes. It also adopts a primary diet of spruce budworms, helping to reduce a serious threat to pulpwood forests. Flocks of Evening Grosbeaks will nest and breed in infested areas, then move on to another infested location when the local budworm population is all but eliminated.
With a range that spans from the Rocky Mountains to Newfoundland and Labrador, the Evening Grosbeak is a noted wanderer. Flocks will appear seemingly at random in one region, sometimes for long intervals, then suddenly disappear. Their meanderings take them across the entire breadth of Canada and the United States. Studies show a pattern of wandering eastward in autumn and westward in spring, but scientists believe their impetus is food and not migration in the traditional sense. For such a noted and wellloved bird, the Evening Grosbeak still harbours many mysteries.
Face Value: 25 cents
Mintage: 20,000
Composition: Cupronickel
Diameter (mm): 35
Edge: Plain
Finish: Specimen with colour
Certificate: Serialized
Artist: Arnold Nogy
