You’ll know if you’ve seen this bird before. Every spring and fall, the rose-breasted grosbeak migrates through Alabama, resting at feeders and bird baths.

You’ll recognize its large beak, black and white feathers and the splash of red across its chest. Females are brown but sport a signature white stripe over their eyes. And if you’ve had one in your backyard before, you’re likely to see it again.

“It’s one of the things that really signals spring is here for birders,” said Joe Watts with Alabama Audubon, the state chapter of the national birder group. “They’re not the first arrivals by any stretch, but they come in April and you’re just like, ‘oh, yep, clearly spring is here.’”

Rose-breasted grosbeaks are members of the cardinal family. They’re about the same size as a cardinal but with bigger beaks.

Many bird enthusiasts count the rose-breasted grosbeak as their “spark bird,” or the one that piqued their interest in watching, Watts said. Why? Because they’re so distinctive. And it doesn’t hurt that they’re likely to hang out at bird feeders.

Starting in April each year, the grosbeaks make their way north, passing through Alabama on their way to breed. They’re likely to be found in the woods or at forest edges, according to Cornell University. They typically hang around in Alabama until mid- to late- May.

Rose-breasted grosbeaks feed on seeds, meaning they’re likely to come to bird feeders. By the time they arrive in Alabama in the spring, they’ve flown over the Gulf, so the birds are pretty hungry, Watts said.

In fact, part of the reason people are so enthusiastic about the grosbeaks, Watts said, is because they sit still for so long, feeding or drinking water.

“They do really well in suburban and urban environments,” Watts said. “These birds, they take full advantage of folks that provide feed for their birds.”

The birds have a beautiful song, similar to that of the common American Robin, but a little sweeter. The song is a melodic whistle and can last around six seconds, but in those six seconds, the rose-breasted grosbeak will chirp around 20 notes or syllables, according to Cornell.

Rose-breasted grosbeaks are one of the few birds that sing while sitting on their nest.

The birds spend their summers breeding in the Smoky Mountains, the Midwest and Canada, Watts said, before migrating south through Alabama in the fall.

As winter arrives, the grosbeaks move on to spend the season in Central America and northern South America, in countries like Mexico, Panama, Jamaica and Cuba.

Read more: Catch this ‘charismatic’ rare bird in Alabama before it’s gone for the summer

The grosbeak’s population has remained relatively stable despite concerns about habitat loss and climate change, according to the Audubon Society. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, a governing body for conservation groups in the world, lists the rose-breasted grosbeak as a species of “least concern.”

But one of the “cooler” facts about the rose-breasted grosbeak, Watts says, is that its name tells you what you’re going to get.

“There are Wilson’s warblers and there are random other named birds but rose-breasted grosbeak. You’re like, ‘it’s got a big beak and it’s got a rose breast,’” Watts said. “The name tells you what the bird looks like.”

This story is the second in Beautiful Birds of Alabama, a new series from AL.com featuring some of the state’s most unique birds.