Overview

Red Crossbill: Medium finch with red-orange body, brighter red rump, and dark brown wings. Bill is dark and crossed at tip. The tail is notched. Legs and feet are gray-black. Eats seeds, insects and caterpillars. Swift bounding flight, alternates rapid wing beats with wings pulled briefly to sides.

Range and Habitat

Red Crossbill: Breeds from southern Alaska, Manitoba, Quebec, and Newfoundland, south in the west to northern Nicaragua, and in eastern U.S. to Wisconsin and North Carolina (in mountains). Spends winters irregularly south to the Gulf Coast; also in Eurasia. Preferred habitats include coniferous forests; visits ornamental evergreens in winter.

Breeding and Nesting

Red Crossbill: Three or four light green or blue eggs spotted with brown and lavender are laid in a shallow saucer of bark strips, grass, and roots, lined with moss and plant down, and built near the end of a conifer branch. Eggs are incubated for 12 to 18 days by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Red Crossbill: Eats a variety of foods, including insects, buds, and seeds. Larger-billed individuals prefer pinecones; smaller-billed birds favor spruce cones.

Readily Eats

Safflower, Apple Slices, Suet, Millet, Peanut Kernels, Fruit

Vocalization

Red Crossbill: Song is a "chipa-chipa-chipa, chee-chee-chee-chee"; also a sharp "kip-kip-kip."

Similar Species

Red Crossbill: White-winged Crossbill has thick, white wing-bars.