Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Scottish Crossbill
Scientific Name:
Loxia scotica
Length:
16cm
Wingspan (mm):
30cm
Weight:
44g Description
The Scottish crossbill is a sparrow-sized member of the finch family, measuring about 16 centimetres in length, and is closely related to goldfinches and canaries. Males and females are quite different in colouration, with the male having a bright orange-red, brick-coloured plumage, while the female is a dull green-yellow, which provides her with good camouflage when she is sitting on her nest. Both males and females have dark brown wings and tails.
Diet
The crossbill feeds on pine seeds either by pulling a cone off a branch and then holding it with its feet while it uses its bill to extract the seeds, or it acrobatically moves around the cone, extracting the seeds without removing the cone from the branch. The location of a feeding crossbill can often be determined by the floating seed cases and occasional falling pine cones which result from its foraging.
Although pine seeds form the vast majority of their diet, crossbills occasionally feed on small shoots and buds, while in spring the females frequently feed on insects, to provide the extra protein needed to produce their eggs. Males feed on insects to a lesser extent than the females, but insects, including the larvae of the pine sawfly (Neodiprion sertifer), are sometimes brought to the young in the nest.
