White-winged Crossbill

The White-winged Crossbill is a slightly smaller, more delicate relative of the Red Crossbill, sharing the same distinctive crossed mandible tips but easily distinguished by its two broad, bright white wing bars set against black wings. Adult males are rosy pink to raspberry-red overall, while females are yellowish-olive with grayish streaking. Both sexes and juveniles show the diagnostic wing bars at all ages past the nestling stage.

This species is a boreal forest specialist, most strongly tied to spruce seed crops, and like the Red Crossbill it wanders nomadically and breeds opportunistically wherever and whenever cone crops are abundant, sometimes in the depths of winter.

Key Field Marks

• Crossed bill tip, generally finer and more slender than in Red Crossbill
• Two broad, bold white wing bars on black wings — the single best field mark
• Males: rosy-pink to red body
• Females: olive-yellow with gray streaking, grayish rump

Similar Species

• Red Crossbill: lacks white wing bars and is generally brick-red to orange rather than pink in males.
• Pine Grosbeak: much larger and bulkier, with a straight (not crossed) bill.
• Purple Finch: lacks the crossed bill and white wing bars, and is more heavily streaked below.

Habitat

White-winged Crossbills favor boreal and subalpine forests dominated by spruce and tamarack (larch), tracking cone abundance across the landscape.

Range

The species breeds across the boreal forest belt of Canada and Alaska, and in Eurasia, with the American population sometimes treated as a distinct form from the Eurasian Two-barred Crossbill.

Migration

Like the Red Crossbill, this species is a nomadic, irruptive wanderer, moving irregularly outside its core range — sometimes well south into the northern and even central United States — during years when spruce seed crops fail in the boreal zone.

Behavior

Flocks forage acrobatically in cone-laden treetops, often hanging upside down like small parrots to reach cones, and calling frequently in flight, which helps locate wandering flocks.

Voice

The flight call is a dry, rapid "chif-chif-chif"; the song is a bright, varied series of trills and warbled phrases delivered from a high perch.

Feeding

Diet is dominated by spruce seeds, supplemented by tamarack, hemlock, and other conifer seeds, plus occasional buds and insects.

Nesting

Nesting timing follows cone abundance rather than season, and can occur even in extreme winter cold. Nests are well-insulated cups built high in a conifer, and females typically lay 2-4 eggs.