{"id":3548,"date":"2020-11-06T18:31:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T18:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/?p=3548"},"modified":"2020-12-03T22:20:58","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T22:20:58","slug":"dont-get-it-twisted-life-of-a-red-crossbill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/2020\/11\/06\/dont-get-it-twisted-life-of-a-red-crossbill\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Get It Twisted: Life of a Red Crossbill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Part I: Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While out on a walk, looking through your binoculars, you gaze up into the canopy where you hear a group of birds chirping. You come across a red bird with a very strange feature. It looks like a finch, but what happened to its bill? No the bird did not get into a fight, or fly face-first into a tree, it is simply a Red Crossbill! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red Crossbills belong to the Order Passeriformes (songbirds) and the Family Fringillidae which consists of mostly small, seed-eating birds. Red Crossbills are treasures to Vancouver Island and are often found in flocks looking for pines and other conifers (Sibley Birds West). The remarkable crossed bill allows these birds to access heavily-protected seeds that are bound by the tough scales on conifer cones. This specialized feeding adaptation has lead to Crossbills occupying niches many other species cannot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Description and Identification<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Red Crossbill is a type of finch that is described to have a large head, stocky body, and of course a uniquely crossed bill (eBird)<\/a>. These birds are classified as medium-sized songbirds that are larger than a warbler but smaller than a Red-winged Blackbird, however there is a lot of variation in size (All About Birds)<\/a>. Like many other finch species, Red Crossbills are sexually dimorphic. Sexual dimorphism means that males and females have different plumage colours or patterns, making the sexing of these birds relatively easy. Red Crossbill males are either dull red or orange, whereas the females are more of an olive-dull yellow colour. Both sexes have brownish wings and juveniles of this species are streaked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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