parrot crossbill

Here he tilted his head towards me, so you can see that thickly arched bill in profile.

This was one of the pics I submitted to ID forum to ask whether this was a Parrot Cb or a Red Cb. In Norway they're known as Spruce and Pine Cbs respectively. The critical feature to see is the bill, which is quite a bit bigger and Roman-nose arched in the Parrot Cb. Not quite so easy to see...

Not so colorful as the male. Perhaps that's why she's hiding ... embarrassed to be so plain? I think she's quite pretty nevertheless.

Not a lot of birds about when I walked to the Botanical Gardens and the Lade Trail one day last October. Fall migration was pretty much over, so no waders at the mudflats, and the thrushes and warblers mostly gone from the woods. But I heard a flock of something unfamiliar flying by several...

Parrot Crossbill Photo captured in Nottinghamshire

4 birds seen and this was a monster !

A rarity in the Netherlands, and a species that needs to drink from time to time and therefor is pretty predictable