Crossbill evidence? (1 Viewer)

Emma

Well-known member

• Jan 29, 2011

• #1

Saw these at Bunkers Hill Wood (Worcs) today and noticed the seeds from the following pine cones had been eaten/removed, could this be attributed to Crossbills? I am unfamiliar of any other birds that are capable of removing seeds from un-opened pine cones and would like to establish if Crossbills have been in this area?

Many thanks for any suggestions!

 

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matt green

Norfolkman gone walkabout

• Jan 30, 2011

• #2

I was anticipating people replying with either a resounding ''yes you've got Crossbills'' or no it's just a squirrel!!

For what it's worth there's pictures of feeding Crossbills on the net but found this video on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NvU8WG9bg0

The birds feeding on the video don't appear to damage the cones as much as those in the pics you uploaded, maybe they're just messy eaters in the Midlands!!? I always find the best way to establish a birds presence is by it's call...lucky you if you have got them on your patch!!

Matt

 

A

Apodemus

Well-known member

• Jan 30, 2011

• #3

They've certainly been stripped, but I don't know that you could put that down to crossbills. Your tree is a Sitka spruce, by the way, not a pine. Spruce cones have much softer, more papery bracts and would be quite easily pulled apart by many other birds. Pines cones are much harder, woody structures.

Mike

 

K

King Edward

Well-known member

• Jan 30, 2011

• #4

The cones look a bit long for Sitka Spruce - I think it's Norway Spruce (Picea abies). Back to the original question, I believe Great Spotted Woodpeckers also feed on spruce seeds and would certainly be capable of inflicting this kind of cone damage. Nuthatch might be another possibility.

Regarding the Crossbills, the excellent video linked by Matt shows how they just remove the seeds by prising the scales open, rather than by physically removing the scales as a woodpecker might. So I suspect it's probably not them in this case.

 

Monahawk

Well-known member

• Jan 30, 2011

• #5

Having observed both crossbills and squirrels feeding on cones, I have found that crossbills leave a neatly plucked cone while squirrels leave a rather tatty and shredded cone. Your pictures could well be evidence crossbills.

Si.

 

Enji

Well-known member

• Jan 31, 2011

• #6

If I remember correctly, a Crossbill extracts the seeds by sticking it's beak beneath the scale, and prying out the seed. As it withdraws its beak the scale is often cloven in half. In any case they eat pretty neatly, I think this cone looks a little too messy. However, it is a bit hard to tell... I think the leftmost one looks a bit like it's been eaten by a squirrel though, since squirrels rip off all the scales.
Woodpeckers usually leave very messy cones, but I've never seen one eat one directly off the tree, the ones I've seen have taken the cones to some place where they put the cone in some crevice so they can easily peck hard at it. Then the throw the empty cone away, get a new one, place it in the crevice and repeat.

 

Emma

Well-known member

• Jan 31, 2011

• #7

Thanks all for your replies, I think I am going to have to stake out the tree in order to 'see' what has eaten the cones! The thing that struck us with the cones is that they are on the outermost part of the tree furthest away from the trunk which is why we thought that Crossbills might have been on them and initially ruled out Squirrels as there were lots more cones near the trunk of the tree.....hope that makes sense!

I have learnt a lot from your replies which will come in handy for future reference!

 

Monahawk

Well-known member

• Feb 1, 2011

• #8

Always a pleasure to try and help Emma. Just another tip. Crossbills are nomadic birds so staking out the trees may prove fruitless once the food supply has been exhausted. They move on to find more cones elsewhere often travelling long distances.
However don't let that put you off. You may be lucky to locate them again.

Si.

 

Twite

Well-known member

• Feb 1, 2011

• #9

Crossbills shear the scales on spruce cone lengthways, and accumulations of cones may be found beneath a tree that has been visited by a flock of birds. The scales on pine cones are split and pressed outwards to reach the seed.
From Tracks and signs of the birds of Europe. 2nd edition. Published by Helm identification guides.