OWLS & OTHERS FROM THE NORTH SHORE OF MASSACHUSETTS AND ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE USA

I'm an avid birder and nature photographer wishing to share some of my sightings & images taken while out in the "wilds" of Cape Ann and surrounding New England countryside. More images can be found on my web site at New England Birds Plus Enjoy, Phil Brown


"Click" on any image below for a larger version....


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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Red Crossbill Calls - Nov 12, 2012

A visit to Salisbury Beach State Reservation on Monday, November 12, 2012 found 300 or so White-winged Crossbill foraging in the Pines around the campgrounds. Among them were at least 3 Red Crossbill, one of which, a male, can be seen below. 


A return visit on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 armed with my cell phone and the knowledge that the flight call of a Red Crossbill could id it to type found me roaming the campground for a short while before I managed to record the brief 3 second flight call which can be heard below.

Red Crossbill flight call - Nov 13, 2012


I ran the wav file through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Raven Pro software and came up with the audio spectograph you see below, a pretty good match to "type 3" Red Crossbill.

I also sent the wav file off to Matt Young at the Cornell Lab, he confirmed it to be a type 3 Red Crossbill.


A comparison of all of the Red Crossbill types can be found on the Labs web site HERE


2 comments:

  1. Great to see you back blogging again Phil. I'd love to have seen your Crossbills - a super image! That's pretty clever technology you have there. I'm not aware of a similar facility for UK bird song identification.

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  2. Thanks Richard! Red Crossbills are the only species I know that need to be id'd to type in this manner. They may be split into separate species at some point down the road.

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Comments and questions are always welcome!