Several folks saw at least two White-winged Crossbills today (Thanksgiving) at
Grandview Cemetery, Fort Collins. As has been the case since they were first
observed on November 22nd, they were in the company of Red Crossbills. The
number of total birds in the flock seems to vary. Today it was 11 birds, most
of the time. While they were in the southeast corner in the tops of Colorado
Blue and Engelmann Spruce trees, I am fairly certain the number of White-wings
was 3 (one pink adult male and two "yellow" female/immature types, with one of
the latter appearing somewhat striped). I would say the Red Crossbills are of
at least two Types: mostly 5's ("lodgepole" crossbill) and maybe a small-billed
female 4 ("Douglas-fir" crossbill). I would caution folks that a couple of
the individual male Red Crossbills have weak wingbars, as Sibley shows for a
"variant 1st year male". One Red Crossbill seemed to have a very large bill
and might have been a Type 2, but none of the vocalizations I concentrated on
sounded like a 5. The overwhelming sound one hears when they get ready to
leave, are leaving, and when they are flying overhead is that of Type 5, with
the overall chorus being "muddied" by the White-winged Crossbill voices heavily
laced with "ch" endings. Two people I talked to today mentioned seeing what I
thought I was seeing the other day, that being courtship type activities among
two of the White-wings. I have seen them fly around chasing eachother, giving
the "toop" calls in the process. Fred Lebsack (Cheyenne, WY) and Connie Alwood
(St. Louis, MO) said, while scoping the birds, they saw food exchange between
the two.
The crossbills can be anywhere in the cemetery where the big spruces with cones
are. There has been at least one Pine Siskin tagging along the last two days
(not all that much smaller and stripier than a young White-winged Crossbill,
but its bill is, of course, much smaller).
Also continuing at the cemetery:
Townsend's Solitaire (1) usually near the junipers
Golden-crowned Kinglet (1 female)
lots of both chickadees
lots of creepers
lots of Red-breasted Nuthatches
White-breasted Nuthatch (1) usually in American elms in the north part of the
cemetery, or along the ditch in the northeast part
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins
--
Colorado Field Ornithologists: http://www.cfo-link.org/
Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/
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