White-winged Crossbill

A shifting run of rough-edged and musical trills, with one pattern sliding into the next. More tangled than bell-like.

This species is nomadic across the northern conifer belt of North America, with local breeding in boreal and high-elevation forests. It wanders widely when cone crops fail, so one winter it may be everywhere and the next nowhere.

Conifer country is home turf: spruce, fir, hemlock, pine, and tamarack forests in the boreal north and mountain woods. In irruption years, they spill south into parks, cemeteries, suburbs, and anywhere cone-laden evergreens are planted.

White-winged Crossbills don’t always follow the usual bird calendar. If cone crops are good, they may breed in midwinter, with snow on the branches and seeds still plentiful.

A compact finch with a wonderfully odd bill, the White-winged Crossbill uses crossed mandible tips like tiny tools to pry seeds from spruce and larch cones. Males glow raspberry-red with crisp white wing bars. Females are olive-yellow and gray, and both sexes often hang acrobatically in evergreens while giving bright, jingling calls.