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Home > Coniferous Forest Animals > White-winged Crossbill

White-winged Crossbill

The white-winged crossbill belongs to the finch family. Usually, it is smaller than some of its cousins, and the juvenile bird is more similar to other adult crossbills.

White Winged Crossbill

Scientific Classification

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Aves
Order Passeriformes
Family Fringillidae
Subfamily Carduelinae
Genus Loxia
Scientific Name Loxia leucoptera
White Winged Crossbill Photo
White-winged Crossbill Image

Quick Information

Also Known as Two-barred crossbill
Description Size:  5.5-6.2 in (14-16 cm)

Weight:  0.88-1.2 oz (25-35 g)

Color:  Males are red bodied while females are lemon green, both have two white stripes on their wings
Distribution Finland, Alaska, Canada, and America
Habitat Coniferous forest
Subspecies 1. Loxia leucoptera leucoptera
2. Loxia leucoptera bifasciata
Sounds & Calls ‘Toot’ and ‘Psrit’
Lifespan Around 4 years
Diet Alder, larch, birch, and spruce seeds
Adaptations Their sturdy beak is exclusively for extracting the seeds
Predators Blue jay and other bigger birds
IUCN Conservation Status Least Concern

Behavior

  • They forage in small flocks throughout the year
  • They prefer only conifer seeds
White-winged Crossbill Female
White-winged Crossbill Juvenile

Mating and Reproduction

Breeding depends on the food sufficiency as females need more food to lay eggs, so there is no particular season of mating, but most female birds after a successful period of courtship tend to lay 3-4 eggs in March-April. Eggs are mostly purple or brown spotted greenish to whitish in color. Their incubation period lasts for 12-14 days in a nest made of weeds and twigs, moss, and linen.

Life-cycle

Juvenile crossbills have a brown coloration with prominent white streaks. They leave the nest within 21-25 days.

White Winged Crossbill Picture
White Winged Crossbill Bird

Interesting Facts

  • A white-winged crossbill can eat as much as 3,000 conifer seeds each day.
  • The scientific name of the species has come from the meanings of two words, like Loxia that means crosswise, and leucoptera which means white-winged.

References

  1. https://luontoportti.com/en/t/1671/two-barred-crossbill
  2. https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/whwcro/cur/introduction
  3. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-winged_Crossbill/overview

Published on April 22nd 2019 by Sahana Kanjilal under Coniferous Forest Animals.
Article was last reviewed on 5th December 2022.

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