Red Crossbill (Juvenile)

This fellow (Loxia curvirostra--a member of the finch family) made a very brief visit to our house this afternoon--doubtless one hatched earlier this year. It's a bird that we've never seen here before (and in fact not in New England altogether). It inhabits relatively northern latitudes, and this mid-New Hampshire location is probably about the southernmost extent of its range in the east. They live around coniferous trees and use their crossed bills to open their cones. (More information below.)

I blipped a young common crossbill in Belgium in February--in fact it's the same species; that's their English name in Europe.

Edit: From an ornthologist friend's email: "This bird is a male that hatched last winter or early spring. ... The presence of red feathers indicates a male. The lack of widespread red indicates a young male. A male hatched in the summer is not likely to show any red yet and to show more brown, streaked juvenal feathering.

"It is not quite correct to say that the New England and New York breeders are the southernmost breeding Red Crossbills in the East. There are breeding populations in the southern Appalachians and in the mountains of Central America. There is also occasional breeding outside of the typical breeding range, especially if there has been an "invasion" from the normal range coupled with a local rich cone crop."