Pine Siskin 



Dean E Biggins 



RED CROSSBILL (Loxia curvirostra) 



The unique overlapping mandibles of the crossbill are used for extracting 

 seeds from the cones of conifers. This the crossbill accomplishes by in- 

 serting the closed bill into the side of the cone and then opening the 

 mandibles with a movement which tears out the scales and leaves the 

 seeds exposed. Crossbills often hang from evergreen cones in the manner 

 of a chickadee, while noisily extracting seeds with their peculiar bills. 

 Red crossbills are vagrants, which may be abundant one year and virtually 

 absent from the same general area the following year. The male red cross- 

 bill is brick red with a bright rump area. The female is dull olive-gray, and 

 juveniles are streaked above and below. Red crossbills are inhabitants of 

 the lodgepole pine/spruce-fir and Douglas fir/aspen complexes of both 

 Yellowstone and Grand Teton. 



Green-tailed Towhee 



Kent & Donna Dannen 



59 



