Hello all~
This is a little old, but still new to those of us that are just starting to
try and work through the various types of Red Crossbills in the Pacific
Northwest.
http://earbirding.com/blog/archives/712
With only a little bit of background reading, some practice listening to the
various types (http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/recrtype/), I was able to
ace the quiz. I would suggest doing a little bit of homework before taking the
quiz.
First, one needs to know which types occur in Oregon. They are usually named
based on the conifer trees with which they most associated with using as a food
source. Here are some tips on how I personally tried to remember the various
types.
Type 2 - Ponderosa PineHint: Begins with the 2 same letters
Type 3 - Western HemlockHint: "Hem" is 3 letters
Type 4 - Douglas-firHint: "Doug" is 4 letters
Type 5 - Lodgepole PineHint: "Lodge" is 5 letters
Type 10 - Sitka SpruceHint: Two words, same 5 letter length (almost)
Once you have the names down, you can focus on separating the calls. Start
slow with learning only 2 at a time. Ponderosa Pine (2) and Western Hemlock
(3) are good ones to compare and learn first because they are quite different
and then branch out, adding Douglas-fir(4) and Sitka Spruce(10) if you are on
the coast or adding Lodgepole Pine (5) if you live higher in elevation.
There are two other types that probably occur in Oregon, but are rare and/or
present in irruption years.
Type 1 - Appalachian (rare)Hint: A is the 1st letter in the alphabet
Type 7 - Enigmatic (rare)Hint: Lucky 7 is enigmatic
Good luck,Russ Namitz,Medford, OR
