Red Crossbill

A rough-edged run of clipped jip notes that opens into longer jeeeaa phrases. Red Crossbill songs often weave flight-call-like notes into loose trills and warbles.

Irruptive nomad across boreal and montane North America, Europe and Asia. Local abundance changes yearly with cone crops; may appear well south of breeding range in invasion years.

Primarily mature coniferous forests—spruce, hemlock, Douglas-fir, pine, larch and cedar; wanders to ornamental conifers in parks, cemeteries and suburban neighborhoods when cone crops fail elsewhere.

Can breed at any month when cone supply is adequate, often in mid-winter. Summer and early autumn spent exploiting high-elevation cone crops; widespread irruptions in late autumn–winter.

Stubby, heavy-headed finch of conifer country, best known for its uniquely crossed mandibles that pry seeds from cones. Flocks roam the skies with bounding, parabolic flight and constant chip notes that echo through spruce and pine stands. Plumage is variable: adult males are brick-to-scarlet red, females olive-yellow to gray-green, and juveniles streaked brown.