[Tweeters] red crossbills

[Steve Hampton]

Types 3, 4, and 10 are the most expected in the Puget Sound area. Each are associated with a different kind of tree. They are most definitively told apart by their calls and even more so by recordings and sonograms of their calls. You can see and hear examples here: https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/peterson-field-guide-to-bird-sounds/?speciesCode=redcro&species=Red%20Crossbill%20-%20Loxia%20curvirostra

Around Port Townsend, Type 3 are present especially around Ft Warden. I suspect they are nesting. There are also some Type 4 around and especially on a Marrowstone Island. Most interestingly, a few weeks ago I recorded Type 2 calls with begging at Fort Flagler, implying local breeding by Type 2, which is unusual. That recording and full eBird list is here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S88745300

Good birding and crossbilling!





Sent from my iPhone


> On Jun 5, 2021, at 2:34 PM, Doug Santoni <dougsantoni at gmail.com> wrote:

> 

> This is a very delayed report, but in late April I did have a small flock of Red Crossbills visit my backyard water feature in the Madison Park area of Seattle, adjacent to the Arboretum.  I was thrilled to see them below eye level, and almost spilled my morning coffee when I saw them outside of my kitchen window!  One of these days I hope to go over to Idaho to see the Cassia Crossbill (the only U.S. bird that is endemic to a single state not on the coast).  Happy birding!

> 

> Doug Santoni

> Seattle

> 

>> On Jun 5, 2021, at 2:06 PM, <tomboulian at comcast.net> <tomboulian at comcast.net> wrote:

>> 

>> This is definitely a red crossbill year here in the lowlands.  In my Shoreline neighborhood I have two small flocks that rapidly rotate through the high conifers and then come down for a drink at my bird fountain.  This is the time of year I generally get them, though not always in good numbers, when last year’s cones are maturing and easy to extract seeds from.  They are everywhere right now; the Highlands neighborhood, which is mostly forested, has flocks of 30 or more crossing all day long.  Don’t know how long they’ll stick around.  Sometimes cavorting with Purple and house finches, siskins, and goldfinches—I had all 5 at once this week.

>>  

>> I have a crossbill question.  I know there are up to 10 types, mostly separated by voice or extreme visual differences. There is a 30-50% size difference between the smallest ones at my fountain (siskin-sized), and the larger ones (house finch size), and I’m not finding a good reference as to whether size can be indicative of type.  I don’t do sonograms (yet?). It would seem that hemlock type 3 might easily be smaller than Douglas Fir type 4 based purely on the size of the food item. The birds I hear seem to all be similar in sound, but I’m just getting this one aurally ingrained.

>>  

>> Mark Tomboulian

>>  

>> Shoreline, WA

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