Red Crossbill Identification

Adult male

Medium-sized finch with a crisscrossed bill. Adult males are red overall with darker brownish-red wings (some individuals may show wingbars).

Female

Full-bodied finch with a crisscrossed bill. Females are yellowish with dark unmarked wings.

Male

A medium-sized songbird with a unique crossed bill. Crossbills use their specialized bill to pry open conifer cones and then extract the seeds found inside.

Adult male

Juvenile

Juveniles are heavily streaked overall with thin buffy wingbars, which can be hard to see depending on position of the bird.

Male

Different Red Crossbill populations, known as "types," have distinctly different flight calls and bill shapes that are adapted for different types of cones.

Immature male

Immature males are a patchy mix of red and orangish yellow feathers as they molt into adult plumage. Note dark unmarked wings and tail.

Female/immature

Adult male

Typical call is a series of short, sharp "jip" notes.

Adult male

Female

Uses its crisscrossed bill to extract seeds from pine cones. Females are yellowish overall.

Juvenile

Adult male

Flock

Flock

Moves in large nomadic flocks in search of good cone crops.

Habitat

Found in mature evergreen forests with large cone crops. Feeds on seeds from spruce, Douglas-fir, eastern and western hemlock, or pine trees.