Red Crossbills

Written By: William McReynolds - Highlands Plateau Audubon Society | Issue: 2020/08 – August | Photograph By: William McReynolds

This unusual member of the finch family has a beak specially formed to extract seeds from pine cones. The Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) inserts its slightly opened bill between conifer scales and bites down to release the seed. They also feed from Hemlock, Fir and Spruce trees.

There are upwards of a dozen different types of Red Crossbills which are highly localized, have different songs and do
not interbreed. 

Locally, our Red Crossbills are about the size of goldfinch, larger than chickadees but smaller than, say, mockingbirds. Males are red-orange with dark wings. Females are brown and yellow with dark wings. The distinctive field sign for both genders are the seemingly deformed, crossed upper and lower mandibles. 

They range widely in North America, mostly in Canada and Boreal Forests where there are abundant conifers. They are rarer in the lower 48 but do appear with some regularity in the sub-tropical forests of Western North Carolina. 

An “irruptive” species, flocks of Red Crossbills show up unpredictably where food is abundant. In addition to conifer seeds, they eat plant seeds, berries and insects. “Reds” will come to bird feeders offering sunflower seeds.

Males perform flight song displays to attract the females. Receptive females build a cup nest on a horizontal conifer branch upward of 40 feet above the ground. Three or four pale greenish blue eggs are incubated by the female for 12-15 days.   

The male faithfully feeds the female while she is sitting on the nest. Both parents feed the hatchlings who then fledge in 18-20 days. All this family process takes place, of course, at dizzying heights. 

Red Crossbills are probably more easily seen than heard. Their slight vocalizations — a short series of jip jip jip — occur high in the trees and in flight. 

The oldest known Red was a banded bird caught by researchers eight years after being banded. Research done by Audubon scientists predicts that Red Crossbills stand to lose 59 percent of their North American habitat to global warming.

These birds have been sighted on our Plateau this summer. Look for them on conifer branches and bird feeders stocked with black oil sunflower seeds. 

Happy August birding from the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society.

The mission of the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society is to provide opportunities to enjoy and learn about birds and other wildlife and to promote conservation and restoration of the habitats that support them. HPAS is a 501(c)(3) organization, a Chapter of the National Audubon Society.   

Visit highlandsaudubonsociety.org for information on membership and all activities.