White-winged Crossbill Loxia leucoptera
Birds of Nova Scotia - White-winged Crossbill
Wings and tail black, the wings boldly marked with two white bars; rest of plumage rose-red, brighter on rump.
Adult female:
Gray suffused with olive-green, brighter on crown and rump; wings and tail dark gray, the wings boldly marked with two white bars; underparts less greenish, and lightly striped with dark gray.
Breeding
Nest:
Winter nests are similar to those built by Red Crossbills and better constructed than summer nests, which consist of a few insecurely placed conifer twigs, with a liberal quantity of beard lichen on top. The moss is roughly moulded into the shape of a nest, and remains in that form until the young are hatched; but after they are about a week old, it becomes depressed and finally is completely flattened. Two nest sites were quite different from those selected by Red Crossbills: a small slender spruce growing in open woodland pasture near heavy coniferous woods; and the top of a small spruce about 5 m high, growing in a thicket of its own kind so dense that only the topmost branchlets were green.
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