FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Red Crossbill (Greene Co., TN)

["Donald Miller" <pandion@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

December 23, 2006

Christmas came two days early this year.

This morning, while attempting to re-find a Brown Creeper that had just put in 
an appearance in our yard in Greeneville, I heard a series of calls that 
alerted me to a flock of about six Red Crossbills flying through.  I saw the 
flock only briefly, long enough to get an approximate count as the birds flew 
over and among the trees in our yard and on our neighbors' properties, and long 
enough to judge their size and shape in comparison to other finches.  I heard 
many calls, though--the loud, hard "chit" or "jip" note repeated often--more 
than I needed to confirm the identification.  This is the note that has been 
designated as the Type I call for Red Crossbill, characteristic of birds 
commonly found in the Southern Appalachians.  

The birds entered our yard from the south and continued more or less in a 
straight northward direction.  There are many scattered conifers of at least 
three different species in the neighborhood, as well as in nearby areas just 
outside town, and perhaps the flock was attracted to some of these trees.  
However, given the unpredictability of crossbills, I wouldn't venture any solid 
guess as to why they showed up inside the town limits.  Whatever the reason, 
the experience was a benediction.  

Also present in our yard later in the day was a Fox Sparrow foraging under a 
seed feeder. 

Don Miller
Greeneville, Greene Co., TN

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