Red Crossbill

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.

“chee-chee-double-chee-chirr”

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.