Back from North Idaho for Thanksgiving and was welcomed by a small flock (~12) of RED CROSSBILLs this morning (Fri., 17 Nov.'23) feeding in our neighbor's heavily laden Blue Spruce in southwest Denver (Athmar Park neighborhood, Denver Co.). They took off before I could get a recording, but sounded like "Lodgepole" (Type 5) crossbills to my ear. They definitely were not "Ponderosas" (Type 2), though could have been "Douglas Fir" (Type 4) as I'm a bit rusty with these guys which have been mostly absent this past couple of years in North Idaho where they were our most abundant crossbill for a long time. Feeding on spruce cones points to "Doug Firs", but these guys and gals seemed heavy headed/billed for this call type, so still thinking "Lodgepoles". In any case, having these guys down in the lowlands is always a treat, so keep your ears open.
Happy Thanksgiving, Doug Currently Denver PS - While the spruces seemed to have a good cone year, our Ponderosas seem light, so I guess they have to do with what they can get. -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/001d01da1987%24fb55bb30%24f2013190%24%40frontier.com.
