Dear Nene and Tweeters,

It sounds to me like the birds reported by Nene were Red
Crossbills.
The interest in Douglas-fir cones and the call notes fit perfectly.
The "sturdy" build and finch-like bills also fit. The bills of Red
Crossbills are fairly thick (deep), but the crossed tips of the
mandibles are hard to see at a distance-- certainly not when viewed
through ordinary binoculars in the tops of 120-foot trees.
The colour, even if hard to see, also fits. Both sexes of Red
Crossbills have black or blackish wings, darker than the body. Adult
males have dull reddish body plumage, but this colour is not bright
and could be hard to distinguish against the light. Females and
immatures are yellowish or greenish where the males are reddish. It
could be that this flock of 5 were all females or immatures.
All in all, from what was observed, I would say I'm almost certain
these were Red Crossbills. (White-winged Crossbill is a possibility,
but far more unlikely. They are generally quite rare in the Puget
Sound Lowlands, although there have been a few in the Cascades this
summer/fall.)
Nene, the next time you see Red Crossbills, I hope you get a much
better look at them. They are quite striking birds when seen at close
range.

Wayne Weber
Kamloops, B.C.
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca


-----Original Message-----
From: Nene W <northwestmom at yahoo.com>
To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, November 23, 1999 7:09 PM
Subject: Mystery Birds


>
>Okay, maybe some of you more experienced birders can
>help me out...
>Sunday with the nice weather I was out cleaning up
>flower bed and heard a birdcall I didn't recognize.
>Grabbed my binocs (hanging under jacket) and located
>about 5 birds up in the very TOP of the 120+ -foot
>doug-firs around my house. So they were a bit
>silhouetted, for starters, my hands weren't as steady
>as I'd have liked, for seconds, and they were WAAAYYY
>up there, for thirds (those are my excuses for not
>making an ID and I'm sticking to them). Anyway,
>watched them a minute or two, striving to see some
>distinguishing feature. They appeared to be checking
>out the cones,etc. up there, moving this way and that
>in a manner similar to a much smaller bird like a
>chickadee. Build was rather sturdy and size seemed to
>be Grosbeakish. Beaks also seemed like a finch or
>grosbeak. Color was hard to ascertain, but didn't
>seem to be particularly strikingly marked, wings maybe
>a bit darker than body, thought I detected a slight
>yellowish gray? (silhouette made color detection hard)
>
>Moved to brace my hands on the yard waste bin and they
>moved to another tree with even worse view (rats!).
>But as they were flying they gave off a most distinct
>"PINK PINK PINK" call. Does this sound familiar to
>anyone? What might they have been? Looking thru my
>books, didn't come up with anything definitive. Darn
>things flew off after about 5 minutes. Would
>appreciate any ideas.
>
>Danene Warnock
>Bellevue, Wa
>northwestmom at yahoo.com
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