Bird of the Day

Like the Pine Siskin I posted at the end of last month, White-winged Crossbills are an irruptive species in New England. Some winters (it appears to be cyclical) when food supplies in their northern boreal forest habitats are scarce, irruptive species can become nomadic in great flocks ranging far and wide.  Crossbills are medium sized finchy birds with peculiar scissor-like bills for extracting the seeds from cones of coniferous trees. During irruptive years, it isn’t unusual to also find them visiting backyard feeding stations.  Above is a male told by his reddish cast, and you can just make out the bold white wingbars in his black wings which distinguish him from the very similar Red Crossbill. Female White-winged Crossbills are an olivey-yellow, though yellow males are occasionally recorded.