The Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) is Sweden's largest finch, breeding in the old-growth forests of northern Norrland and often remarkably unafraid of people. It measures 20–22 cm, weighs 52–78 g, and has a wingspan of 32–35 cm — roughly the size of a Fieldfare, with a rounded body, a short, stout, hooked bill, and a relatively long tail. Two clear white wing bars mark birds of every age and sex. The male is rosy red across the head, breast, and rump with grey back and belly and blackish wings; the female is olive-green to yellowish-grey above with a yellowish rump; juveniles resemble the female but with warmer beige tones. As with crossbills, plumage shade varies considerably with age, sex, and year.
The call is a soft, fluting, rhythmic whistle, most often a falling three-part "ti-tu-tu", with a calm, flute-toned song of gentle whistles and short trills, notably softer than a Bullfinch's sharper song. The Swedish population, concentrated in Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Jämtland, and northern Dalarna, is estimated at 50,000–150,000 pairs. Pine Grosbeaks are classic irruptive birds: when the rowan berry crop or conifer seed production fails in the breeding range, flocks of 10–30 push south, sometimes reaching all the way to Skåne between October and March, with documented invasion years including 2012/2013, 2019/2020, and 2023/2024. It nests 2–6 metres up in a spruce, building with twigs, moss, and lichen; the female lays 4 eggs, incubated 13–14 days, with chicks fledging after 13–20 days. It feeds on rowan berries, juniper berries, buds, and conifer seeds through winter and spring, switching to insects (mainly for feeding young), berries, and buds in summer, and rowan, whitebeam, rose hips, and hawthorn in autumn — in towns it is often drawn to rowan avenues and apple trees with fruit still hanging.
Read about this species in Swedish →