Quantcast

Red Crossbill

Loxia curvirostraOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Finches (Fringillidae)
Red Crossbill Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Specialized, Cone
  • Eye Color: Dark brown to nearly black.
  • Head Pattern: Plain, Special (unique patterns or features)
  • Crown Color: Red-orange
  • Forehead Color: Red-orange
  • Nape Color: Red-orange
  • Throat Color: Red-orange
  • Cere color: No Data
Red Crossbill Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 14-17 cm (5.5-6.5 in)
  • Weight: 40 g (1.4 oz)
  • Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
  • Color: Red, Brown
  • Underparts: Red-orange
  • Upperparts: Red-orange with brown streaking.
  • Back Pattern: Striped or streaked, Scaled or Scalloped
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Red Crossbill Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Swift bounding flight with rapid wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 25-27 cm (10-10.75 in)
  • Wing Shape: Rounded-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Fan-shaped Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: Black
  • Under Tail: Black
  • Leg Color: Gray-black
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Buntings, Finches, Sparrows (Emberizidae)_blue
Species Loxia curvirostra
Length5.5 - 6.5 Inches
Wingspan10.375 Inches

Red Crossbill

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.

● Song: "chipa-chipa-chipa, chee-chee-chee-chee", "kip-kip-kip"

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

● Breeding & 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.

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

Flight Pattern

Swift bounding flight with rapid wing beats.
Red Crossbill Body Illustration
● Range & 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.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationFairly common
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight1.4 Ounces