Crossbill

One of my dear pen pals sent me this little story that she wrote. She graciously gave me permission to publish it here. If you enjoy the story, Please send her e-mail from the bottom of this page..
                                                            Thanks from Sparrow

 She sat there in the Wild Bird's Unlimited bird feeder watching me and I sat there in my sunny kitchen, enjoying a morning breakfast and observing her. Just a window pane was between us and my feathered visitor but I became awestruck at the fluffy, puffy pale brown/gray bird. Her beak!! It was twisted and her gentle, quiet stance led me to believe that she had been injured. Had there been an accident whereby she may have collided with the window? How in the world was she going to break open the seeds with the mangled beak? Perhaps I should rescue her from her plight - obtain a shoebox container to transport her to a bird doctor! Was there a vet nearby that would take a look at my new found friend to see what was the matter!? My thoughts drifted as to how I could help. Paying little attention to me, she gently helped herself to seed after sunflower seed. I stepped forward to the window(she was not more than 1 foot away) for a closer look, yes, the bill was tweezer like, but twisted with the lower part of the bill curved upwards and the upper portion of the bill curved down wards. They crossed one another in such an odd angle. Having watched many other birds at this same feeder and within the vicinity of our Mason Lake home, this  bird's facial feature was new to me! The purple finch, juncos, robins, towhees, blue jays and chickadees were frequent visitors and had more of what I considered normal beaks for seed intake. I prepared my thoughts for a  rescue of my new friend and a trip to the bird clinic when suddenly her mate fluttered in to settle beside her! He was dull/red in hue and upon closer examination, he too had the BEAK! The same funny looking twisted BEAK!! Ok, So now what?  Off I scrambled to get my birding reference book (Book of North American Birds) and hastily thumbed through the pages. Aha, there before me appeared drawings of my male and female red CROSSBILL! Amazing! Incredible!        This delightful couple visited for 3 sunny days in July, 1999. The 8th 9th and 10th were their chosen dates to be our yard and garden guests. They delighted and  entertained my family as they frequented the feeder for this duration. Grabbing my camera, the female crossbill allowed me to photograph her and did  comical jumps over the warm pavement to the nearby bushes. Both partners in this twosome appeared to be unconcerned about humans nearby and were relaxed and nonchalant with regards to the attention they were receiving.   Besides my birding book assistance, I dashed to the computer and learned this bit of information. The red crossbills are the most unpredictable members of what is probably the least predictable group of North American Birds. They are a part of the finch family and are errant migrants. They spend most of their winters, along with other species in the coniferous forests of Canada, and the northern and western United States. What is known as "irruption" occurs with regular finches and these more common finches migrate every 4-7 years but the fickle crossbill will irrupt southward only once every 15-20 years!! They are true nomads and set up their colonies wherever they find food and are unconcerned regarding normal seasonal rhythms and will mate and have their families in the dead of the winter. If one finds a nest one year, there is no promise that these vagrants will return the next! The lst nest of red crossbills was discovered in New York in April of 1875. The red, or common crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) is so named because of the males red color. Their bills are medium-sized and they feed on the seeds of spruce cones and intake insects. To recognize a male red crossbill, look for the dull red color and wings and tails that are blackish. The female is gray-olive in color with the wings plain and dark. They love the pine forests and will nest in a cup of twigs and bark strips, on branches of conifer five to 80 feet above the ground. Their length is 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 inches.        So if you happen by chance to discover what I did, please enjoy. It may be another 15-20 years before you see this nomad again.
 

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