Species BirdsWhite-winged Crossbill

White-winged Crossbill

Loxia leucoptera

UncommonBird
Illustration of White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera)

The White-winged Crossbill is a boreal crossbill that specializes in spruce cones, its crossed bill fine-tuned to this crop, and it can breed in any month of the year if cone crops are available. The male is rose-pink with two bold white wing bars. Like the Red Crossbill, it is highly irruptive and nomadic, sometimes appearing far south of its boreal range.

Habitat
Boreal spruce forests wherever spruce cone crops occur
Diet
Spruce seeds and occasional other conifer seeds
How common
Uncommon

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