It is found in coniferous woods across Alaska, the western mountains of the United States, Canada, and in subarctic Fennoscandia and across the Palearctic to Siberia.

The pine grosbeak was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia enucleator.

It was moved to the rosefinch genus Carpodacus based on results from phylogenetic studies of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences that were published in 2012 and 2013.

Adult males have a rose-red head, back and rump, They also possess black wings and tail, with a conical beak.

This species is a very rare vagrant to temperate parts of Europe; in all of Germany, for example, not more than 4 individuals per year and often none at all have been recorded since 1980.

This bird is a permanent resident through most of its range; in the extreme north or when food sources are scarce, they may migrate farther south.

When breeding both sexes develop gular pouches which they use to store seeds before feeding them to the young.