Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Crossbills
Our feeder which contains fine sunflower hearts has been taken over by both White-winged and Red Crossbills. They chase the Redpolls, Goldfinches, and Pine Siskens away. Their food of choice is pine nuts, so they must find the sunflower hearts a good alternative. First time we have seen them at the feeders here. Here's some pics of the Red Crossbills, look closely and you can see the crossed bills.
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I love the shots - we had Red Crossbills here once in the entire time we have lived here - it was truly incredible to see them!
ReplyDeleteKaryl
They are around much of the winter here. But we just don't see them. I was reading that the red crossbills are equipped to crack open larger pine cones, while the white cross bills specialize in smaller pine cones.
ReplyDeleteDoug