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Red Crossbill

Finches, Sparrows & Buntings

Photo: (c) Jason Alexander, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0

Loxia curvirostra

Basic stats

Diet

Conifer seeds, extracted from cones

Habitat

Coniferous forests

Range

Coniferous forests across North America and Eurasia

The red, or common, crossbill is a small finch, called red crossbill in North America and common crossbill in Europe. Adults are often brightly coloured, with red or orange males and green or yellow females, but beak size and shape and call types vary widely, leading to different classifications of variants, some named as subspecies. Crossbills are distinguished by mandibles that cross at their tips, and use them as levers to separate the scales of conifer cones and extract the seeds on which they feed (Wikipedia, general species account).

Red crossbills breed in a variety of coniferous forests across North America and Eurasia, and when not breeding the various types may flock together, and also with other species of crossbill (Wikipedia, general species account).

Quick answers

What does the Red Crossbill eat?
Conifer seeds, extracted from cones
What habitat does the Red Crossbill live in?
Coniferous forests
Where is the Red Crossbill found?
Coniferous forests across North America and Eurasia
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