Bird watching: red crossbill

Self-tutoring about birds: the tutor mentions an observation.

Yesterday I was outside, near a tall Douglas fir. I noticed movement in it, so looked up. I think it was a northern flicker making the movement.

Once I was looking up, movement much higher in the tree caught my eye: it was other birds. After watching for a few seconds, I realized they were likely red crossbills. Some were orange-red (male), others yellow-green (female). They might have been sixty feet up; I wouldn’t have noticed them, had I not been looking up already.

Red crossbills live on Vancouver Island year-round. I rarely see them. I wrote an earlier post mentioning them here. As of yesterday, I’ve come to wonder how often they are nearby, yet at such altitude that one doesn’t notice.

Source:

Hoar, T.L., De Smet, K., Campbell, R.W., Kennedy, G, Kagume, K. (2010). Birds of Canada. Lone Pine Publishing.