The parrot crossbill (''Loxia pytyopsittacus'') is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

family

Fringillidae The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

. It breeds in pine forests in northern and northeastern Europe.

Taxonomy

The parrot crossbill was formerly described in 1793 by the German naturalist Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen under the binomial name ''Loxia pytyopsittacus''. The type locality was designated as Sweden by Ernst Hartert. The species is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

: no subspecies are recognised. The genus name ''Loxia'' is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''loxos'' meaning "crosswise"; the specific epithet ''pytyopsittacus'' combines ''pitus, pituos'' meaning "pine" with ''psittakos'' meaning "parrot''.'' The crossbills are characterised by the mandibles crossing at their tips, which gives the group its

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

name. Some

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

-feeding populations currently assigned to red crossbill in southern Europe may possibly be better referred to either this species or alternatively to new species in their own right, but as yet, research into them is still at a very early stage.

Description

Adult males tend to be red or orange in colour, and females green or yellow, but there is much variation. This species is difficult to separate from

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

and

Scottish crossbill The Scottish crossbill (''Loxia scotica'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is endemic to the Caledonian Forests of Scotland, and is the only terrestrial vertebrate species endemic to the United Kingdom. The Scottish ...

s, and plumage distinctions are negligible. It is slightly larger than other crossbills, measuring long and spanning across the wings. It is quite bulky and heavy weighing from , with an average of .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . The head and bill are larger than in either of the other species. The bill is thicker than those of its relatives, and the crossed tips are often not readily apparent. Extreme care is needed to identify this species. The deeper, harder ''choop'' or ''tyuup'' call is probably the best indicator.

Distribution and habitat

This bird breeds in the

forests of northwest

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and into western

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. There is also a small population in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, adding to the difficulty of distinguishing it from the sympatric red crossbill and the endemic

. This

crossbill The crossbill is a genus, ''Loxia'', of birds in the finch family (Fringillidae), with six species. These birds are characterised by the mandibles with crossed tips, which gives the group its English name. Adult males tend to be red or orange in ...

is mainly resident, but will migrate south and west if its food source fails.

Behaviour

Parrot crossbills will form flocks outside the breeding season, often mixed with other crossbills.

Food and feeding

They are specialist feeders on conifer cones, and the unusual bill shape is an adaptation to assist the extraction of the seeds from the cone. The parrot crossbill is a specialist feeder on the cones of

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

. Loxia pytyopsittacus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.220 Laponie HdeB.jpg, Egg of ''Loxia pytyopsittacus'' MHNT Loxia pityopsittacus NAUMANN.jpg

References

External links

Loxia Fantastica
Blog dealing with crossbills in

{{Taxonbar, from=Q645055 Loxia Birds of Europe Birds of Scandinavia Birds described in 1793