Crossbill by Ear

[okaugust]

Coffenbury Lake, Ft Stevens State Park, Oregon, Jan 2, 2022

Habitat is fir and deciduous trees, lots of bushes, lake side trails. There is a good flock of Red Crossbills that are always on the move around the lake, in the treetops. I have come to love Merlin since living in the Pac NW as the forests are so dense, it's often impossible to see anything, so it's good to know what you are hearing. I use it mainly as a tool and don't report rare or unusual birds using just Merlin, but it helps me know what to look for and where. I usually would like a second opinion or a visual. Yesterday though the light is so poor and the birds so far up in the dense treetops, I only managed to glimpse one bird, which was a typical Red Crossbill. I know there are folks who can discern the various types of Crossbills from their calls, but I am not one of them. I've seen White-winged Crossbills in WY a couple of times, but not enough exposure to differentiate the sounds. It would be considered rare here. I'm wondering if anyone here has an ear for this species can take a listen. Hopefully either the link or upload works. Sorry for the human audio included, I had visiting out of state birders with me and was calling out what we/Merlin were hearing. You may have to turn it up. It's easier to hear on the phone than the computer, in my experience. It may not be enough of a diagnostic, but I always am hopeful, of course.

Thank you!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HO5cTyDa_8lJHcGmNmwc3S3BxIRhV90v/view?usp=sharing

Edited January 3 by okaugust

[Birds are cool]

Can you upload this to ebird?

[Birds are cool]

I don't hear any WWCR though.

[okaugust]

Thanks! My eBird reviewer has a good ear too, better than me at 52 with tinnitus, but I'm reluctant to post a rarity there without a little more consensus. I wouldn't want people out chasing something that doesn't exist, and I know Merlin is iffy sometimes.

[Jerry Friedman]

You could upload the recording to your Red Crossbill sighting and email the checklist link to Matt Young at <info@finchnetwork.org>.  He'll identify the call type, which is interesting (to me at least), and you could also ask whether there's a White-wing on there, or just see what he says.

I'd send Matt any Red Crossbill recording I got, but so far I've only gotten one, which was Type 2, the expected one here in northern N. M.

https://ebird.org/news/crossbills-of-north-america-species-and-red-crossbill-call-types/

[okaugust]

Thank you, I will give that a try! I appreciate the help. 🙂

[Avery]

7 hours ago, okaugust said:

Thank you, I will give that a try! I appreciate the help. 🙂

Spectrograms are your best friend for crossbills! The differences can be so subtle when you only hear the bird make one kind of call that it can be too hard to ID reliably just by ear.