Click on one of the thumbnails to the right to view the corresponding item.
Search Results Click a thumbnail to view.
Crossbill, Loch Spynie
17732
380
RSPB Loch Spynie
Female Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) at Loch Spynie RSPB Reserve, taken by David Palmar. Crossbills have distinctive mandibles, crossed at the tips, which enable them to extract seeds from conifer cones and other fruits. With their bills, they begin at the bottom and spiral upwards on a cone, prying each scale open and taking out seeds with their tongues. Description improved by Ilaria Lonero.
31 January 2023
Crossbill, Loch Spynie
17731
380
RSPB Loch Spynie
Female Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) at Loch Spynie RSPB Reserve, taken by David Palmar. Females are greenish-yellow in colour, with black wings. Description improved by Ilaria Lonero.
31 January 2023
Crossbill, Loch Spynie
17730
380
RSPB Loch Spynie
Female Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) at Loch Spynie RSPB Reserve, taken by David Palmar. The Common Crossbill is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. Crossbills have distinctive mandibles, crossed at the tips, which enable them to extract seeds from conifer cones and other fruits. Males are red-orange in colour, with black wings, whereas this female is greenish in colour. Description improved by Ilaria Lonero.
31 January 2023
Male Crossbill, Glen Doll
13933
37
Angus Glens - Glen Doll
Male Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) in Sitka Spruce, showing the cones from which its crossed bill extracts the seeds, Glen Doll. This individual has the typical red-brick colour of male Crossbills.
04 December 2011
Male Crossbill, Polkemmet Country Park
11782
238
West Lothian
Male Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) at the Scottish Owl Centre, Polkemmet Country Park, West Lothian. The bills of Common or Red Crossbills can cross either way, dictating the direction the bird will spiral up the cone.
20 August 2016
Male Crossbill, Polkemmet Country Park
11777
238
West Lothian
Male Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) at the Scottish Owl Centre, Polkemmet Country Park, West Lothian
20 August 2016
Female Crossbill, Polkemmet Country Park
11776
238
West Lothian
Female Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) at the Scottish Owl Centre, Polkemmet Country Park, West Lothian
20 August 2016
4 greetings cards - Passerines
10383
52
Products
A set of 4 greetings cards of passerines including male Bullfinch, Yellowhammer, Waxwing and male Crossbill
24 February 2016
£4.00
Female Common Crossbill (deceased)
02361
81
Argyllshire - Appin
Female Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) showing the crossed bill which enables them to open cones and extract the seeds. This poor bird did not survive the winter, was found in a garden, had been put in a freezer and is now on its way to a museum.
15 January 2012
Crossbill
02192
83
Campsie and Fintry Hills
A male Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) feeding a female Crossbill a Sitka spruce seed in the Fintry Hills. Crossbills are monogamous, seeming to stay in pairs during the year. Pairs will form within flocks. A male sings from a perch and makes display flights to attract a female. During the breeding season males are aggressive towards one another. Courtship involves the male feeding the female and the pair grabbing one another by the bill (called billing). The breeding cycle is linked more closely to food availability than to season, and the birds can breed almost any time of the year, even in mid-winter if the source of seeds is abundant. Description improved by Ilaria Lonero.
