Scottish crossbill? (1 Viewer)

Hi everyone,

next 2 weeks are my last days in Scotland and before coming back home, I would like to watch the Scottish crossbills (It´s my only chance!!)

The problem is that I don´t know where I can see them, and what´s worse, I really don´t know how to differentiate them from the common one.

I would appreciate any help you could give me.

Thank you everyone for your help!!

About identification:
http://www.the-soc.org.uk/identification-of-scottish-and-parrot-crossbills/

You should carry a recording device with you to be really sure about the id.
A good location is Abernethy forest near Aviemore or other forests (even Scottish Pine plantations) around Grantown-on-Spey.
Beware that three forms of Crossbill (Scottish, Common and Parrot) can occur there!

André

Thank you André!! I will try to go there and will tell you if it has been successful

Pancho

Crossbills of any description few and far between in Abernethy at the moment. I covered a large area of the forest at the weekend and not a single chip!!

jpoyner said:

Crossbills of any description few and far between in Abernethy at the moment. I covered a large area of the forest at the weekend and not a single chip!!

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I’m not too surprised as there is a mega crop of Sitka Spruce cones ripening over a wide area of the Highlands just now. During the 1970’s and 80’s I studied a small group of Scottish Crossbills Breeding in SE Sutherland. They regularly moved out into the surrounding plantations and fed on Sitka Spruce and also Lodgepole Pine before the Scots pine cones ripened in February. The FC have not removed all of the none-natives from their Speyside woodlands yet my advice would be to check out the Sitka Spruce.