Holsaeter's Crossbill

Holsaeter's Crossbill, Loxia holsaeterii (LOCK-sih-ah hull-set-TER-e-eye) is a species of crossbill. It is named in honour of a teacher the author knows. They are found in Devonshire, Shire, Italy and Aquitani. It migrates to northern Africa.

It is a fairy common and occasional passage migrant in varying numbers.

Name origin
Genus name Latin, from Greek loxos, crosswise in reference to its crossed mandibles ; species name in reference to a teacher the author knew.

Other names
Wing-barred Crossbill, Devonshire Crossbill, One-barred Crossbill
 * Local Devonshirian name: Pine-nut Cracker

In other languages

 * German/Deutsch: Holsaeter-Kreuzschnabel
 * Spanish/Español: Piquituerto de Holsaeter
 * French/Français: Bec-croisé d'Holsaeter
 * Swedish/Svenska: Holsaeter är korsnäbb
 * Norwegian/Norske: Holsaeter Korsnebb



Description
Length: 6½" (17cm) 17 cm. Bill is c. 2.5 cm thick. Weighs about 0.75 oz . Unpredictable and often elusive. Resembled and acts like a miniature parrot, but has crossed mandibles.

Males are bright pink overall with one white and dark wings,,  and tail. The female is mottled yellowish-olive with a darker olive-green back. Her wings are dark grey and her tail is dark grey to black, and her rump and crissum are yellow, unlike the males.

Both sexes share these same characteristics: light yellow bills, the closest to the wings are greyish-white and their feet are both dark grey to black.

Similar species
The male resembles a Two-barred Crossbill, however the Holsaeter's has one wing bar. It is rarely found with two wing bars, <1% of the population have two wing bars. The tail is not forked, unlike the other crossbills; however, this might be hard to see when in the field or when the bird is facing the person viewing it.

The female Holsaeter's resembles the Red Crossbill, but Red's tail is crossed and her back is "scaled" olive-green.

Scottish Crossbill is only found in northern Britannia and the ranges rarely overlap and lacks the white wingbars. Parrot Crossbill lacks the white wingbars as well.

Pine Grosbeak lacks the crossed bill and is shorter.

Other pink or red finches are smaller.

Hybrids
It very rarely hybridises with the Two-barred Crossbill. Males are known to hybridise with the Red Crossbill, but this is very rare. It is unknown whether the offspring are sterile or not.

Behaviour
It is often elusive, but its presence may be betrayed by falling cones.

Diet
Feeds acrobatically in conifers, sliding along branches and moving from twig to twig using its bill.

Conifer seeds, particularly that of the. It sometimes insects and spiders.

The tough scales protecting the seeds of pines are pressed tightly together, and the seeds are hidden deep inside the cone - the crossbill can easily pull them out, as their bills act like a lever.

They hang upside-down, over the end of a limb to work at the cone from above. They insert their bills between the scales of the cone, and use their mandibles to hold the scales open while their flexible tongues lift out the seeds.

Is occasionally killed by cars when licking off salt on highways.

Calls
A dry echoing chipp-chipp-chipp, kip-kip-kip, or chiff-chiff-chiff. Nasal twitterings are not uncommon, but hard to hear. Song is a mixture of trills, twitters and contact calls.

Reproduction
Pairs are monogamous. Their nest is a cup of grass stems and twigs, placed in a small conifer tree, often at a considerable height.

Rarely parasitised by the Brown-headed Cowbird.

Distribution/habitat
It is native to Europa. Found in larch, fir or pine forests.

Based on...
It is based on the Two-barred Crossbill and Red Crossbill, in which much of the info comes from.