White-winged Crossbills

Saturday, February 21, 2009 by Clint.

We have been reading about some sightings of White-winged Crossbills in our area for the last few weeks and have been dying to see some. They are boreal birds and are rarely seen this far south. We knew if we had the chance to observe them it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Most recently they were spotted in the Albany Rural Cemetery. Folks were seeing 6-8 at a time in the Douglas Fir trees there (these birds eat the seeds in coniferous cones). We had an opportunity to drive over there today, but only had an hour or so before Naomi had to go to work. We knew that the time of day (around noon) was not the best for good birding but that was what we had. We drove into the part of the cemetery where they had been spotted and looked hard for almost an hour and did not spot a single one, though we thought we may have heard them once or twice. Disappointed, we started leaving the cemetery. Just before the gate I looked out my window and spotted 50 to 100 on the ground near the road! I yelled, “Oh my God, there they are.” I fumbled to get my camera and roll down the window. They were in no hurry to leave and we spent another 15 minutes watching and photographing them. Talk about excitement!! We were so close to them, within a few feet - I thought at best I might come away with a distant ID shot of one up in a tree; I never dreamed it would be this good.

Without further ado, here are some photos of these beautiful and unusual birds. The male is reddish pink and the female is yellowish green. They are called Crossbills because the upper mandible, which is longer, crosses over the lower mandible.

I think this one must be an immature male.

What a wonderful birding day!!!!

–

Clint

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