Jeff: I love this image!!! There is something special in my heart for ww crosbills. You see, when I was a kid, my brother brought a bird into the house which he thought was injured because of the "deformed" beak. This bird became my pet (mind you it was before such possession of wildlife was illegal). He was the most interesting pet I had ever had. He was amazingly tame for a wild caught bird and would be allowed to fly around the house every day. He would always come back and land on my shoulder. Eventually we learned of his love of pine nuts when my father bought a Christmas tree with lots of cones on it. After that everyone in the neighborhood would gather pine cones for him. Even with a diet that was subnormal, he lived a good 8 years with us. I only learned of his identity after he had passed on.
I have yet to see another ww crossbill in the wild.
White-winged Crossbill
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