Hi,

I teach at Pacific Lutheran University and I work on Red Crossbills
(specifically song divergence). This summer I am trying to record the
songs of as many of the call types as possible. I would greatly
appreciate any information that anyone has about red crossbills. They
will likely be settling down to breed soon and so if anyone hears
crossbills singing or observes behaviors that suggest that they are
likely to remain in a given area to breed I would greatly appreciate an
email to indicate where they were observed.

Also helpful is information about developing cone crops. They specialize
on seeds in conifer cones and so if there is a large cone crop in a
given area this can be a good indicator that crossbills may breed in
that area in July - August. It would be very helpful to know about cone
crops for the following conifers - Ponderosa pine, Engleman spruce,
Douglas fir, Western hemlock, Sitka spruce.

I have had great success finding crossbills in the past because of the
very helpful responses that I have received from Tweeter subscribers.
Thanks for your help!!

Best,

Julie Smith


Thanks in advance. i locations rea to breed I was wondering if you have
seen crossbills in your area recently and if so were they singing? Is
there a good cone crop in the area? If you have time to respond I would
greatly appreciate any insights that you have about crossbills in your
area. Thanks in advance.

Best,

Julie Smith
--
Julie Smith, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447
253-535-7307
smith at plu.edu