In this episode of Outdoor Radio, biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra are way up in the Northeast Kingdom at Moose Bog in Ferdinand. They're joined by avid birder Tom Berriman in search of crossbill birds. The beak on these birds is actually crossed, allowing them to pry open the scales on pine cones and pick out the seeds inside. A crossbill can consume 3,000 seeds a day! There are several species of crossbills; the White-winged and Red Crossbills are most common to Vermont, but they are rarely spotted.
Check out these links for more information about Crossbills:
- Bryan Pfeiffer on Birding in Moose Bog.
- Cornel Labs Red Crossbill Field Guide.
- Cornel Labs White-winged Crossbill Field Guide.
- White-winged Crossbill live eBird map for November, 2017.
- Red Crossbill live eBird map for November, 2017
- Report your sightings at Vermont eBird, a project of Vermont Atlas Of Life.
Outdoor Radio is produced in collaboration with the Vermont Center For Ecostudies with support from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation.
