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Common Crossbill
(Loxia curvirostra)
: "Red Crossbill" (North America)
 German name(s): "Fichtenkreuzschnabel"
Size: 15-17 cm; wing span 27-31 cm
Weight: 25-50 g
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Common Crossbills are tall and heavy finch-like birds.
Their plumage
is dimorphic,
i.e. males
and
females
are different.
Male
Common Crossbills are mostly red, sometimes greyish red. Their
wings are grey with red edges to the feathers. Only parts of
the sides and eye-rings are homogeneously grey, while other
parts of the sides and the edges of the ear coverts are streaked
light grey and red.
Females
have a grey head, darker-grey wings, an olive-grey to yellow-grey
front and a
yellowish-green rump. The head, back and the fringes of the ear
coverts are lightly streaked darker grey.
Both sexes have dark irises and grey bills. These bills are their most
striking feature. The very long upper mandible, which is slightly
down-curved, protrudes far over the shorter lower mandible and the
two are crossed. The bills of
females
are less curved and less crossed than those of
males.
The legs and feet of both sexes are orange-grey.
Juvenile
Common Crossbills are all-grey, with a lighter-grey throat than the
rest of the plumage.
The wings are mid-grey; the rest of the body is a lighter shade of
grey, with mid-grey streaking everywhere.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Common
Crossbill at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to the
ebird.org
website.
The global distribution of the Common Crossbill is available
HERE
.
Common Crossbills are found on all continents of the northern
hemisphere and on Iceland. There are many different races that
can compiled into two groups, for Eurasia and North America
(for details see, e.g. Wikipedia
).
Their preference for boreal/conifer forest/taiga leads to a
distribution with preference for mid- to high-altitude
environments, such as low and high mountain ranges (up to
the tree line) and plateaus.
Their distribution ranges over the width of Eurasia, from
western Europe in the West via Asia Minor and mid- to high-latitude
Asia to Japan in the East. They are also found
over the entire width of the North American continent, from
Newfoundland to southern Alaska and down to central Mexico
as well.
Over their range Common Crossbills are mostly sedentary, but
there can be irruptive events in case of food shortages in
their preferred habitats.
In Europe Common Crossbills are found in the mountainous regions
of primarily eastern Spain, including the Pyrenees, the Alps, the
Apennin mountains in Italy and the highlands of central, eastern
and south-eastern Europe, including the Balkans and parts of
Greece. They are also found in Scandinavia, except the northern-most
parts and the highest-altitude peaks in southern Norway, and in
the taiga of eastern Europe, up to and beyond the Urals and the
Caucasus mountains.
Common Crossbills have a strong preference for conifer forest
and woodland, of various types of spruce, but also fir and
pines, high up in which they also nest.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
Race "curvirostra"
S. Cuturilov reports spotting a Common Crossbill, nominate race
"curvirostra",
on Jabuka mountain, south-western Serbia, in June 2017.
All sighting and photographic information presented on this page
has kindly been contributed by S. Cuturilov.
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Photos |
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Race "curvirostra"
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ADULT |
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FEMALE |
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Frontal view of a female Common Crossbill prising open a pine cone
(photo courtesy of S. Cuturilov)
[Jabuka mountain, Serbia, June 2017]
Near-lateral view of a female Common Crossbill in a
pine tree (photo courtesy of S. Cuturilov)
[Jabuka mountain, Serbia, June 2017]
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Food, Diet |
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Female Common Crossbill feeding on pine seeds
(photo courtesy of S. Cuturilov)
[Jabuka mountain, Serbia, June 2017]
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.
Distribution
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Call/s
