[cobirds] 17 Red Crossbill, Colo Spgs, El Paso Co, Monday

Hey COBirders,

I caught some new mountain birds in my yard in NW Colo Spgs this morning, including a couple new Mountain Chickadees (like 60 now, this season), a SY Steller's Jay, (#9 this season), and two of the 17 Red Crossbills that visited the maple tree in my yard, M and F. 

Very cool, but not surprisingly, their bills are pretty sharp!!! Pics below.

Can anyone point me of references that might help me separate the crossbills types by BILL LENGTH?  I saw a simple chart in my Sibley, but both of these were off the scale he had, 18 and 20 mm long (female longer). I can't hear well enough to separate them by call - all I heard was distress calls in the hand.

Thanks,

Steve Brown

Colorado Springs (Mountain Shadows neighborhood)