Gross...

...beak. 

The rose-breasted grosbeak looks like a pinwheel when it flies. The black, white and red combination is so striking.

This one is enjoying some suet. That's not their usual preference, but it's great energy for migration flights. 

My brother is lucky enough to get these birds nesting in his area. In my yard, I just get them passing through (sometimes) in the spring and fall and usually for just a day or two.  I will occasionally see a glimpse of one in a tree when Baloo and I are out in the woods, though. 

This was taken earlier in the season - the dead giveaway is the evil cowbird in the background, looking for hapless songbirds to trick into raising her young by laying an egg in an established nest and tossing out one of the eggs already there.  The cowbird baby will push everybody else out of the nest as soon as it hatches, so it has no competition. Often, the foster parents are much smaller than the cowbird, so they're hard pressed to keep the little parasite fed. Can you tell I'm not a big fan?