The Red Crossbill

Keep a look out for Red Crossbills in your backyard bird habitat.

Red Crossbills are members of the finch family, and are slightly larger than a House Finch in size. Interestingly, plumage colors differ between adult males, adult females, and juvenile birds. Adult males are a dull red color, adult females are a yellowish green, and juvenile birds are a streaked brown. Both genders and all aged birds have solid brown wings.

While not all Red Crossbills are red in color, all do have a large bill that crosses at the tip. This crossed beak is a unique adaptation that allows crossbills to pry apart the scales of coniferous tree cones to extract the seeds.

Studies have shown that different populations of Red Crossbills have bills that differ slightly in shape and size. The specific structure of the bill in each population is specifically adapted to the species of tree that they tend to feed upon most often. For instance, a population that feeds primarily on fir cones may have a smaller, more slender bill than a population that feeds on pine cones. Even those these different populations may occur in the same area, they only tend to associate and mate with members of the same population.

Red Crossbills do visit birdfeeders and are fond of black oil sunflower, either in or out of the shell. Surprisingly, they also occasionally visit finch feeders where they are able to use their long narrow bill to reach into the small ports and extract the small nyjer seed or finch blend.

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