This female Red Crossbill was with the male in the next photo. They visited my yard for a few days and I captured this shot of the female two days after I took a few shots of the male.
View much larger on a dark background here
" PHOTO INFORMATION"
Taken on July 18/11 at 12:32 pm on south east Vancouver Island, B.C..
Camera, Canon 7D
Lens, Canon EF 100-400mm L IS USM lens.
Taken leaning out of window using lens IS.
Taken at, 1/640’s at f/7.1, 400mm, man white bal, iso 1000.
Cropped a little off the right and bottom to bring her in a little closer for viewing. Sharpened via lab mode, lightness channel, unsharp mask.
“ABOUT RED CROSSBILLS”
Red Crossbills are a stocky finch that inhabit mature coniferous forests where it is dependent on the seed cones for its main source of food. Conifer seeds, especially Hemlock, Douglas -fir, Spruce and Pine make up a Red Crossbill’s diet. Its crossed bill is suited to access the seeds from the tightly closed cones. The crossed tips of the bill push the scale up, exposing the seed inside.
The Red Crossbill is a year-round resident from southern Alaska to Newfoundland, through southern Canada, and south to the northern Great Lakes area. Also from the Pacific states over to the Rocky Mountains, south into parts of Mexico. It wanders irregularly during the nonbreeding season. Red-Crossbills are highly nomadic in response to changes in conifer seed production. Red-Billed Crossbills are declining in areas of deforestation.
“Measurements”
Length, 14-20cm ( 5.5-7.9 in)
Wingspan, 25-27 cm (9.8-10.6 in)
Males are deep brick red to reddish yellow, or greenish. Wing feathers are blackish brown, without wing bars. Tail blackish brown.
Females are uniformly olive or grayish, with greenish or green yellow chest and rump. Wing feathers brown, without wing bars. Tail blackish brown.
Immature Juveniles have heavy dark streaks on whitish chest. Back gray-brown tinged with pale green or brown. Rump yellowish with dark streaks. Thin buggy wing bars. Immature like adult female, but some males may be reddish or mixed red and yellow.
birds, nature, wildlife, crossbills, animals, summer, bc, canada
Comments
Another beauty capture, Sandy. She’s not as showy as hubby, but she has lovely muted colours none the less.
Awe,…thank you Mike! Yes, she is not near as vibrant as her partner, but she is certainly pretty in her own right. lol : )
– Sandy Stewart
And on the exact same perch no less. Thanks for sharing. I love their bills.
Superbly captured sandra.
Sweet image! Well done!
Thank you for submitting this to Beautiful BC
Details are appreciated… thanks so much!
I want to hang out your window LOL..awesome capture :)
LOL,…….you’re more than welcome to hang out my window if you like! lol I can see the birds hanging out in my Lilac tree while sitting at my computer. I have a feeding station close to that tree, so I have quite a nice variety of feathered visitors. It’s nice not to have to go outside, especially when it is raining to capture birds! lol
– Sandy Stewart
thats odd i could have sworn I read that you captured this hanging out your window..LOL..must have been another shot of yours..lol
Don’t worry, you’re not losing it,….. I leaned out my window to capture many a bird pic, including the male Red Crossbill! lol : )
– Sandy Stewart
lol i see it now LOL…i’m getting old don’t mind me…sorry about the 3 comments..
Lol,………a sense of humor is always a great thing to have,…..no matter what one’s age! lol : D
– Sandy Stewart
You get fabulous shots out your window, but their must be an expert camera operator to get this quality of photographs!