Hi tweets,

I've often wondered about this. About 3 or 4 years
ago while on a botany class field trip to Leavenworth
we were stopped at a rest area east of Steven's Pass
on Hwy 2 and I found a young crossbill on the ground
under a large douglas fir. The bird was feathered but
its feather growth was such that it was still about a
day away from having any flight abilities. I took
photos of the bird and in the photos the bill is
already barely crossed. Since this bird was obviously
not feeding itself yet, I wonder if the behaviour
described starts prior to fledging ?

Michael Dossett
Bothell, WA
Phainopepla at yahoo.com



__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Find out what made the Top Yahoo! Searches of 2003
http://search.yahoo.com/top2003